Smile: Book 2 in Attractive Series
by Clare Spradley I
Summary: He loved her smile. It made him feel special, wanted and most of all, loved. Lucas vowed he would do anything he could to see that smile from Riley as often as he could. Rucas.
1. Return to New York

The day was December 1, 2023. It would go down in history as the absolute best day in Lucas Friar's life. He bounded back to his dorm room, intent on calling his potential girlfriend, Riley Matthews, hopefully via Skype. That is if she wasn't too busy preparing for internships and graduation herself. He was going to get a hold of her one way or the other, regardless of what his heartless roommate, Tony, thought. Today was one of the best days for him and would hopefully be a great day for her as well.

 _September 15th, 2023_

 _Lucas Friar was awake bright and early this morning. That's not to say he wanted to be because he was going to dread this appointment with his advisor. That is, if his advisor bothered to show up today. Lucas had planned to meet with his advisor about five times this year but his advisor, Dr. Richards, had cancelled all five times. Dr. Richards still worked as a top veterinarian in the area and had to leave to work on emergencies every time Lucas had made an appointment with him to discuss his internship, assuming that the classes he would be taking this semester went well. All of Dr. Richards' excuses were valid but Lucas was sick and tired of it._

 _Lucas had wanted an internship with Dr. Richards since he first arrived on campus three years ago. However, that was one of the top internships and required you to have straight As and some extra credentials. Lucas had received his first and only B in organic chemistry his sophomore year and had since backed down. He applied just for the hell of it but was turned down. Other internships were out of town, possibly out of state and Lucas had no idea what his options were. That was why he had to talk to Dr. Richards._

 _Lucas trudged from his dorm to Dr. Richard's office very early. It was still dark out and he guessed a lot of the sorority and fraternity parties were just now starting to wind down. He was also pretty positive that he was the only student on campus awake, sober and not staring at a computer screen. If Dr. Richards wasn't in today, Lucas was sure as hell going to be pissed off._

 _Luckily for him, Lucas saw a man sitting at a large desk through glass windows. He knocked lightly on the window so not to startle the man and came into his office when he waved him in._

 _"_ _Good morning, Mr. Friar." Dr. Richards said as he shook Lucas' hand. "How are you this morning?"_

 _"_ _I'm doing great, sir." Lucas said. He honestly felt like hell but wasn't about to tell his advisor this._

 _The two gentlemen sat down opposite of each other while Dr. Richards flipped through some papers._

 _"_ _So, I understand you will be graduating in the spring?" Dr. Richards asked._

 _"_ _Yes, sir," Lucas responded._

 _"_ _So you will be needing an internship location, yes? Have you applied to any?" Dr. Richards asked._

 _"_ _None besides yours, which I didn't get into." Lucas stated._

 _"_ _Ah, well I'm sorry about that Mr. Friar." Dr. Richards replied._

 _"_ _That's all right, sir." Lucas responded. "I just came to see what other internships were available to me."_

 _"_ _Oh, well there are plenty of options besides my internship." Dr. Richards reassured him. "Some are in far more exotic and interesting places, too."_

 _The two spent the next couple of hours talking about veterinarian internships that ranged from a bird zoo in Seattle to a horse farm in Tennessee. They all sounded very fascinating. If Lucas had been more awake and alert he might have asked about the internship Dr. Richards mentioned next but he was glad somebody had the wherewithal to bring it up._

 _"…_ _and there's also a 24 hour emergency vet office in New York if you are willing to head up that way again."_

 _Lucas couldn't help but smile at the flyer Dr. Richards presented with to him and he soon had a small sack in his lap of possible internships. Although it probably wasn't the most prestigious option, Lucas knew if he got accepted into New York, he would take that internship._

Present Day

Lucas had applied to the New York internship along with a handful of others and got some results in the mail today. One of those results being the New York internship, to which he was accepted! After clearing his internship with Dr. Richards, he was officially set to intern in New York. That was why today was the best day of Lucas Friar's young life. He would finally get to move back to New York and possibly start a relationship with the woman of his dreams.

Lucas and Riley had decided to have a potential relationship at the end of his Christmas break visit to her home. He had helped her through a tough situation and the sparks were flying long before any of this had even happened, Lucas was just too blind to see it. They probably would have dated if Lucas hadn't been attending veterinarian school in Texas and Riley attending NYU, majoring in law. They were both very happy with the way things were going for them and didn't want to have to sacrifice everything for a relationship that wasn't guaranteed to work.

At the same time, they didn't want to have a relationship that was going to be long distance. They were far too important to the other, not just as a significant other, but as friends. They were worried putting a label on whatever they were would add pressure to be in touch all the time. Both of their degrees were very difficult and time consuming. Sometimes, Lucas would be available and Riley wouldn't and vice versa. Putting a label on it might interrupt their study time and they didn't want to be the reason the other failed a class.

However, they were surprisingly able to stay in contact quite often. They didn't talk every day but the longest they would ever go without talking to one another would be two weeks for finals. Lucas would often fly out to New York in the summer, spring break, fall break, Christmas break or whenever they could both get a significant amount of time off. Riley had yet to fly out to Texas but that was because she had only flown once before and Lucas had racked up plenty of frequent flyer miles so he could fly cheaper. He honestly didn't mind in the least bit that Riley had never been to Texas. He hoped that he could show her his hometown one day but it didn't have to be today.

According to Maya and Farkle, Lucas' other best friends, when he was in New York, he and Riley would act exactly like a couple. He couldn't say they were wrong. The past few times Lucas had visited the city, he had climbed through Riley's window so he could see her first. They would lock lips until somebody came knocking on the door. He was worried how her parents would react but they seemed okay with it. On free nights, he and Riley would go out on the town and grab a bite to eat or see a movie or a concert. On the way to wherever they were going they would hold hands and Lucas would wrap his arm around Riley when strange men on the street would hit on her. He knew that she liked that because she would give him a smile as if to say 'thank you' every time. Not to say he wasn't happy in Texas, but he loved New York and was glad to be able to go back.

He flew into his dorm to see that Tony had already left for his morning class. Lucas had a very important class himself in about an hour but he had time to give Riley a quick call via Skype. He tried, hoping she would be able to answer. He didn't think she had a class yet but he could have been wrong.

However, his prayers were answered when his screen flashed open to a place he didn't recognize and a girl he did.

"Hey," he said to her. "The place looks great."

"Thanks!" Riley responded with her usual cheery attitude. "Maya and I just finished moving in two days ago. It's nice. Much better than our old dorm anyway."

Riley and Maya had decided to move out early so they wouldn't have to be looking for an apartment in the winter when it seemed the entire world was trying to move into New York. They had gotten a nice one bedroom apartment in October but hadn't even begun moving in until Thanksgiving break. The two best friends had already landed their internships in New York. Riley was going to continue the family legacy and intern at Elliot- Brown where her mother worked and Maya received an internship as an art teacher at the gang's middle school alma mater, John Quincy Adams Middle School.

"Yeah, well just about anything's better than a dorm room." Lucas joked.

"You're right there," Riley responded. "So, what's up?"

"I'm not keeping you from anything am I?" Lucas asked.

"No, not right now," Riley said. "I have a class I have to leave for in about ten minutes but I'm good until then."

"Okay, great." Lucas said. "Well, I applied to a lot of internships earlier in the semester and I got some results back today."

"Oh, awesome!" Riley said. "Anything good?"

"Yeah, a few things," Lucas said nonchalantly. "I got accepted to a bird zoo in Seattle and a horse farm in Tennessee."

"Those sound interesting." Riley said. "A lot to think about then."

"Yeah," Lucas responded. "But I think I know where I'm going to go."

"Really?" Riley asked. "Is it head and shoulders above the rest?"

"Well, to me it is." Lucas said. "I think I'm going to work at a twenty four hour animal hospital. I would only be working nine to five Tuesday to Friday, though."

"Is that a good thing?" Riley asked, unsure of how Lucas felt about that.

"It's a very good thing." Lucas said. "Because that way I can spend more time with you."

Spend more time with her? What did he mean by… oh. Was this internship in… New York? No. There was no way. It couldn't possibly be. Despite these thoughts, Riley couldn't help her hands from flying up to cover her mouth. She saw as Lucas chuckled at her then removed a piece of paper from his desk and read it out loud.

"Dear Mr. Friar, we would be more than pleased to have a student with your credentials interning with us at The Animal Hospital of New York." Lucas read.

It took Riley's brain a few minutes to process exactly what Lucas had just said. He was coming back to New York? She didn't think that would have been possible. She had thought maybe they would go to graduate school together but if that hadn't worked out, she would have to question this relationship. She was happy but she was always sad to see him leave and she wished she could hop on an airplane to see him like he did for her. However, she was a typical college student and didn't have the money for a good meal most nights, let alone a plane ticket.

"You're coming to New York?" Riley finally asked as she fought back tears of happiness.

"I'm coming to New York." Lucas confirmed.

Riley laughed wetly as she felt the tears start to build in her eyes. "When? For how long?" She asked.

"Well, I'll probably leave after finals are over, so about two weeks? I was planning on staying for Christmas too." Lucas responded. "And it's a six month internship so for at least that long."

Riley laughed again. She gently pinched her leg from underneath her desk to make sure this wasn't a dream. This was too good to be true. Once she realized it wasn't, she let out a small squeal and laughed again. Lucas laughed back.

"Oh, I wish I could just kiss you right now," Riley said.

"Well, you wouldn't have to wait too long."

* * *

 **AN: Hello again my beautiful readers! That was the beginning of Smile. Admittedly not the best thing I've ever written but it will get better I promise! It's kind of hard to write them when they aren't together but they will be together for most of the story so that will be easier. Also, this story will jump around a bit more than Attractive. Attractive covered four days in 11 chapters and this story will probably cover two to three years and not everyday of Lucas and Riley's lives are going to be so exciting they deserve a chapter. Just thought you ought to know!**

 **I also just wanted to take a quick moment to give a shout out to anybody who reviewed, followed or favorited Attractive! You guys are so sweet and amazing and beautiful and just argh! YOU'RE PERFECT!**

 **Follow, review and favorite!**


	2. Smile

Almost three weeks after their Skype conversation, Lucas was on a flight from Austin to New York. He had spent a week at home because he wanted to hang out with his family for a bit before he left for six months. As Lucas had grown older, he enjoyed spending time with his family less and less. His family wasn't as dysfunctional as Maya Hart's but it wasn't what he remembered growing up with.

Lucas was an only child. In the beginning, his family always got along and rarely ever argued. That all started to change when he was around eight years old. His father had received a promotion at work which helped bring in more money for the family but his dad was never his old self again. Listening to his parents argue while he was trying to go to sleep at night was not his favorite thing. At first it made him sad but eventually his sadness turned into anger. He was upset but what was he going to do? Hit his father? No, there was no way he would survive that. Instead, Lucas found it easier to take his anger out on his classmates. Lucas always won, regardless if he was the biggest kid in the fight or not. This rage didn't seem to solve anything in the long run. Sure, Lucas felt better after hitting somebody for a few minutes but no matter how hard he punched, his parents wouldn't stop arguing at home. In fact, it seemed to only get worse and worse but by the time Lucas had figured this out, he was too addicted to the power he felt over somebody when that person was lying on the ground, defenseless, and Lucas was towering above him.

His need for power became all too much when he started beating up on a kid who was picking on his best friend, Zay. He had caused some bruising before but he had never seen blood until this day. Before Lucas himself even knew what was happening, the bright blue lockers behind the boy he was beating up shone crimson red. A part of him told him to stop and another part, a larger part, told him to keep going until all he saw was the red of blood. Lucas felt several people grabbing at his shoulders, undoubtedly trying to pull him back, but Lucas wanted to keep going. He didn't even know why he was doing this. He knew if he was watching somebody else, he would be absolutely horrified but he didn't want to stop. He couldn't stop.

Eventually Lucas found himself in the office of his school waiting for his parents to come talk to the principal. He still had the blood of the other boy on his hands since he had been brought straight to the office and told to stay there until his parents came. His mother was the first to arrive. At first, she probably thought Lucas had injured his hands but it was quickly explained that the blood was not his. Her demeanor changed from worried to beyond upset when she realized what had happened. Once his father arrived, the principal explained that Lucas would not be allowed back to the school until the following academic year.

That night, the shouts from below Lucas' room where louder than ever before. He still didn't feel sad or as if he had caused any of this but still felt angry. The loud arguments continued for weeks until finally, Lucas' parents sat him down and told them they were getting a divorce. Lucas was far from surprised. It had been a thought in the back of his mind since they had started arguing every night and he was glad that it was finally resolved. A few weeks later, Lucas learned that he would be living with his mother and only days after that, he found out that meant moving to New York. It was then he realized he wanted to live with his dad because then he could stay at home and go back to school with his friends next year. However, there was nothing he could do about it so he left for the Big Apple with his mother.

Lucas wasn't set on changing his ways when he first arrived at John Quincy Adams Middle School. If somebody got in his way or treated one of his friends badly, Lucas would be sure they knew not to do it again. However, something made him want to stop. It was the first time since he was a little boy he could remember feeling at peace. There was absolutely no need to be angry anymore and it didn't seem like something his new friends did. So he changed. It was hard but he hadn't hit anybody just because since he lived in Texas. It was now in his past. It was a part of his past that he was quite ashamed of so that's why none of his friends, not even Riley, knew about his anger issues.

He always thought about his anger when he would return home. He was pretty sure that his dad was the root of his anger because Lucas' father would take his frustration out on Lucas or anybody in the house he could. His dad hated his job but he had worked too hard to do anything else and he couldn't stand up to his boss the way he wanted to without getting fired or arrested. Lucas was only home for a week but he already started to feel the anger building back up again. He decided to take his frustrations out on a pillow or the side of the barn instead of a person. He just hoped this wasn't something he was going to be bringing back to New York with him. He had made so much progress in the last nine years only to revert back to his old ways.

He flew in a bit of fear, hoping he wouldn't be in a situation that made him upset. His fear melted away once he got to the front of the airport and saw Riley Matthews waiting for him.

In the past three years she had changed yet again. Her ombre hairstyle was not as widely accepted at the law firm so she had been growing her hair out so she could eventually cut it off. It was about as long as it was in middle school and high school now but it looked better taken care of. Her cat eye make up was gone as she had a more sophisticated look to it. She was wearing a pair of black heels, a black pencil skirt that rested just above her knees, a white collared button down and a black blazer. Lucas knew this wasn't how she typically dressed but she looked exactly like a big shot, shark lawyer.

Riley's eyes were darting all over the place looking for people. Every now and again she would stand up on her toes to look for Lucas. Finally her eyes landed on his and she gave him a warm smile that still gave his stomach butterflies. He knew he had no reason to be nervous but he was, in a good way.

Lucas made his way out of the crowd and towards Riley before she ran at him, as fast as her heels would take her and crashed into him. Lucas nearly fell over and immediately wrapped an arm around her. He dropped his luggage he was carrying with his other hand and wrapped that arm around her effectively lifting her off the ground. Riley let out a giggle as she felt herself being lifted in the air and Lucas gently sat her back down, still keeping his arms wrapped around her. They leaned in for a quick kiss before they dropped their arms from around each other and Lucas grabbed his luggage he dropped.

"Hey," Riley said as Lucas grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers.

"Hi," Lucas responded. He still loved this exchange between the two of them. It never failed to make the other giddy.

"So, how was your flight?" Riley asked.

"It was good," Lucas answered. "Long, but good."

"Hm," Riley merely said. "So do you want to grab something to eat?" It was nearly noon and Lucas couldn't hide his growling stomach much longer.

"Yes, please." He responded.

Soon they were in a cab heading to a sandwich shop. Lucas wanted something a little more New York and no place in Texas had the meatball subs any deli in New York would have. Soon they were settled in to a comfy booth in the back of the spacious deli, Lucas eating a delicious sandwich and Riley a salad.

They started talking about school and their upcoming internships. Lucas didn't start at the vet until after the new year but Riley was accepted to early admission at Elliot- Brown. She would be starting tomorrow and working through the week. She would have the week of Christmas off but would be back to work the following week. Lucas admired her ability to work hard and not complain about it. He also admired the fact that she was brilliant enough to be accepted to an early admission on such a big law firm.

They were silent for a long time after that. Lucas certainly appreciated lawyers but had no desire to be one and he was sure Riley felt the same about veterinarians. It was hard for them to keep a conversation going more than half an hour about their school work anyway. They both knew there was a huge elephant in the room that needed to be addressed, but neither of them seemed to want to bring it up.

Lucas started to take larger and larger bites into his sandwich and Riley was stabbing at her salad violently with her fork. The silence was awkward and filled with tension. Somebody had to say it or they felt like they were going to explode.

"So, what are we?" Riley finally spoke up, probably a little louder than she intended.

"I don't know," Lucas answered with a mouthful of meatball sub.

"Should we move on now that you're here?" Riley asked, quieter this time.

"Well, the only reason we didn't start dating freshman year was because of the location difference and now there is none." Lucas said.

"Exactly!" Riley exclaimed as she fell back into her booth.

"So," Lucas started. "Do you want to move on or not?"

"I…" Riley trailed off. She had waited three years for this moment. She was expecting to feel all giddy, maybe even let out one of her signature 'yay!'s but that wasn't how she felt at all. Instead, she felt like this was exactly how it was supposed to happen. It wasn't exactly how she envisioned it happening but if everything happened the way she envisioned it, she would have had a million ponies growing up and would have been Lucas Friar's girlfriend since seventh grade. Looking back on that memory, Riley was not ready to have a boyfriend. She was too young. Even though she was only twenty- two now, she still cringed when she saw two twelve year olds holding hands, hugging, smiling at each other all silly and, god forbid, kissing. But she wasn't twelve anymore, she was twenty- two. Several of her friends had done much more than hold hands, hug, smile at their loved one all silly and kissed, not to say she hadn't. She had experienced all of these with the very man sitting across from her right now. She looked at him and saw he was smiling at her in a way that made her feel special. It made her feel wanted and it was then she realized she wasn't going to let a man like Lucas Friar slip through her fingers this easily.

"I think I want to move on," Riley said with a confidence she never knew she had.

Lucas' smile only grew bigger. This smile not only made her feel special and wanted, but also loved. She absolutely adored that and promised herself from this moment forward that she would do anything she could to make Lucas smile at her like that as often as she could. It made her feel loved and she was pretty sure he loved doing it.

"I think I do too," Lucas said.

He took a deep breath as he continued what he was going to say. After all, this was Riley and he wanted to do it the right way. The proper way.

"Riley Matthews, will you be my girlfriend?"

Riley smiled at him in a way that made him feel special, wanted and loved. He promised himself he would do anything to make her smile like that to him as often as he could. He felt appreciated when she did that and he was pretty sure she loved doing it.

"I would love to." Riley answered.

And they both gave the other the smile they loved so much.

* * *

 **AN: And they're boyfriend and girlfriend! Yay! I can promise the next few chapters will contain lots of fluff!**

 **Follow, review and favorite!**


	3. A Late Night Conversation

Lucas and Riley enjoyed the rest of their time in the deli but knew it would have been ridiculous to stay there for several hours. Besides, Lucas had to get situated into his apartment before the night was over. He didn't need to unpack everything but he did want to be comfortable for the night. Lucas got lucky when Farkle called him a few days after he told Riley about his internship and told him that he would be interning at a lab in New York too. They had also gotten incredibly lucky to get the apartment next to Riley and Maya's. It wasn't until he glossed over the memory of getting the apartment that he realized he would be living next door to his girlfriend. That made him very, very happy indeed.

Riley and Lucas took the long way home, walking hand in hand through the less crowded parts of the city. Lucas still had all his luggage from the airport after all. They talked a little bit but for the most part they were in silence, just enjoying the presence of the other. Not much had changed really. Lucas was a firm believer that words didn't need to change people so now that he and Riley were boyfriend and girlfriend, it didn't mean that they should change who they are or what they are for the other.

When it started to get dark outside, the new couple agreed it was probably a good time to head home. When they arrived at their apartments, Lucas realized he didn't want to leave Riley just yet. Just as she was about to turn the key to let herself in, Lucas grabbed her in a ferocious kiss. Riley hardly seemed to mind as she giggled into him and Lucas could feel her smiling against him. They were there for who knows how long before Maya finally opened the door breaking up their make out session. Riley and Lucas put on a face like they were ashamed to be caught in the situation they were in and Maya just looked plan surprised.

"Hey, Pancakes," Lucas finally spoke up, although that itself was more of a mumble.

"Hi," Maya responded, clearly still in shock. "Good to see you, Huckleberry."

"Yeah," Lucas responded, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "I'm going to go back to my place."

Lucas walked the full two feet to his apartment and knocked on the door so Farkle would let him in. Lucas didn't have a key yet so he was hoping Farkle would be home.

"Bye, Lucas." Riley said shyly and gave him a small wave.

Lucas smiled back at her. "Bye, Riley. I'll see you tomorrow evening, yeah?"

"Absolutely." Riley agreed before entering her apartment with Maya.

Luckily Farkle was at home and he let Lucas inside. Lucas started to unpack all of his things as soon as he could. He had to work a little later since his and Riley's trip had taken up a lot of his time. Around eleven thirty, Lucas came out into the living room and pulled the bed out of the couch and placed some sheets Farkle had given him on the bed. He was just about to lay down when he heard a light knock on their door. Who could be visiting at this hour? Lucas decided to look through their peephole to see who it was. It really wouldn't hurt anything anyway. When Lucas looked through it he was surprised to see…

"Riley?" He asked as he opened the door. Riley looked like she was worried about something through the peephole. She was now heading back to her apartment like she had changed her mind but Lucas could tell something was still bothering her.

"Is something wrong?" He asked after moment of silence.

"No," Riley lied. "It's nothing, I just couldn't sleep. Sorry I woke you."

"No, I wasn't asleep anyway." Lucas said. "What's up?"

"It's really nothing." Riley said. "Just go to sleep and I'll-"

"Do you want to come in for a bit?" Lucas asked effectively cutting her off. "I really don't mind."

"Really?" Riley asked.

"Really." Lucas replied as he gestured for her to come inside with his arm.

Riley took the hint and scurried into the apartment. It wasn't until then he realized exactly what she was wearing. She had on a pair of black leggings and a tight fitted Gamma Gamma Nu tank top with faded letters. Lucas could hardly believe Riley when she told him she was pledging a sorority. However, once it was explained to him that she had encountered them before it made sense… somewhat. The tank top did not do a very good job of concealing her rear but that was okay with Lucas. He soaked up every second he could viewing her backside.

Then, Riley turned to face him and her eyes went wide. It didn't seem like a good expression. She wasn't looking Lucas in the face but rather just below. Lucas looked down to where she was staring only to notice what he was wearing. He had an old white t shirt and a pair of boxers. It wasn't anything different than what he usually slept in but he could understand why it might make Riley uncomfortable and that was not a good way to start a relationship.

"I-I can put something else on if you want." Lucas offered.

"No," Riley answered quickly and steadily.

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked.

"Yes," Riley answered as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You're fine- it's fine."

Lucas chuckled at her adorable mistake. He walked over to her and grabbed her hand leading her to his freshly made bed. Riley took a seat on the spot closest to the door and Lucas closest to the full wall window. They put their legs under the covers but stayed sitting up against the couch.

"So, what's got you up?" Lucas asked.

Riley sighed before she answered him. "It's silly but I'm just really nervous about this internship. I mean, they accepted me early, Lucas. They have high expectations. What if I don't live up to those? What if they fail me? What if I never succeed at anything again."

Lucas could hardly keep a laugh from escaping his lips. He knew she took this seriously and him laughing at her would more than likely get him in trouble.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine." Lucas said as he moved his hand a little closer to her. "If anybody can complete this internship you can."

"I know I can; they wouldn't have accepted me if they didn't think I could but that doesn't stop me from worrying that I might accidentally screw something up." Riley said before she sighed again. "It's really what's after the internship that has me worried."

"Riley, we have until May to complete our internships. Don't you think we have a little bit of time before we start worrying about that?" Lucas asked.

"Yes, but it's still a part of our future and I don't want to make a costly mistake." Riley said.

"What do you mean by costly mistake?" Lucas asked. Was she still talking about her career?

Riley took a moment to collect her thoughts so she could figure out how to word what she wanted to say.

"It's so much more than my career, Lucas." Riley said. "I-I want to go to the best grad school I can so I can be the best lawyer I can be but…"

Riley trailed off, once again thinking about how she wanted to word this. This part was the most important part to her. What was the point of starting a relationship with somebody she really cared about only for them to be shipped off to different places yet again?

"But what?" Lucas asked.

"But I want you to be there with me." Riley said.

Lucas was touched by her declaration. They both had dreams and aspirations that hadn't always alined. It was a bit frustrating but now they were a couple. They were boyfriend and girlfriend and Lucas understood where she was getting at. What was the point of getting together if they were only going to be together for six months and then have to break it off?

Lucas smiled warmly at Riley and moved his hand to gently grab her sheet covered knee.

"I promise, I will." Lucas responded. "There's got to be a school that has a good veterinarian program and a good law program."

Riley smiled warmly back. She was touched that he would want to stay with her and not just throw this relationship away after six months. They hadn't even been together a day and they were already so committed to each other. Maybe Riley should have expected this. They had been potential boyfriend and girlfriend for three years and friends since seven years before that. Still, after her bad luck with boys leading into this relationship, Riley couldn't believe she had somebody as perfect for her as Lucas Friar.

"I still don't understand how a guy like you could possibly have any interest in a girl like me." She said in a small voice.

"What are you talking about?" Lucas responded immediately. "I don't want a girl that's beautiful, smart and loving? I bet any guy would kill for a girl like you. What I don't understand is what a girl like you would want with a guy like me."

"A guy who is handsome, strong and sensitive?" Riley asked. "I bet any girl would kill for a guy like you."

They smiled as each other as they each got over their own insecurities. Lucas never seemed like the type of person to have any insecurities but when he was with Riley, he felt like he could be himself with her. He wanted to tell her all the good things he had ever done and leave out the bad because there was no need for her to know. Everybody has secrets, don't they? Lucas was sure Riley had her secrets and he didn't mind in the least.

Riley finally understood that Lucas was in it for the long run and so was she. For the first time in the young life of Riley Matthews, she had a boyfriend who was on the same page as her and that was really something. Especially considering their relationship was brand new. Because it was so new, she didn't know much about it but she knew she believed in them like she believed in Pluto.

Riley shifted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Lucas rested his head on top of hers and moved his hand so he was grasping the inside of her knee, his thumb gently rubbing her knee cap.

"You know," Lucas started. "I don't know of any stories where the seemingly perfect guy gets the seemingly perfect girl."

"There doesn't have to be one." Riley responded.

"We don't make sense in stories." Lucas said.

"We don't have to. I love you, Lucas and that's what really matters."

Lucas' head shot up from where it was resting and as soon as this happened, Riley understood what had happened. She just dropped the L-bomb on him! It had literally only been twelve hours since they became boyfriend and girlfriend and she was already declaring her love for him? Anybody with any common sense would run away from the situation and never turn back. Why would anybody stay-

Riley's thoughts were interrupted by a pair of soft, warm lips coming into contact with hers. Lucas kissed her deeply and sweetly, like he was trying to convey a message. Riley was pretty sure she knew what that message was but she needed to hear it from him before she got too excited.

When they finally backed away, Lucas smiled at her and Riley couldn't conceal a smile either. She bit her bottom lip to keep from giggling in a silly and girlish way.

"I love you, too, you know," Lucas said as they returned to their previous position.

Riley smiled to herself. Lucas Friar loved her. Lucas Friar loved her! It seemed for a moment she was channeling her seventh grade self because she suddenly felt all giddy and excited. Then, her world went dark as she remembered her past boyfriends and how she proclaimed her love for them several times and they had just shrugged it off. But Lucas didn't. Lucas said it back. Lucas was the first boy to tell her that he loved her and that made her emotional. She was in love and she was crying.

She tried to raise a hand to her eyes and wipe her tears so quickly that Lucas wouldn't notice, but he saw. He looked down at her, confused. He pulled away to take a proper look at Riley and noticed that her eyes were brimming with tears.

"Hey, hey," he started in as soothing of a voice he could muster. "What's wrong?"

"You said you loved me." Riley stated.

"I did."

"That's the first time any boy has ever said he loved me."

Lucas moved his hand from her knee to wrap it around her shoulders. Riley never truly cried. Not like she did when he told her he didn't want to be friends. She just rested her head against Lucas' shoulder and sniffled every now and again.

"That's stupid." Lucas finally said.

"What?" Riley asked, a tad worried where he was taking this.

"That's stupid." Lucas repeated. "It's stupid that a guy hasn't fallen in love with you yet."

Riley smiled, even though she knew he couldn't see it.

"Well, I'm sort of glad they didn't work out because then I wouldn't have you." Riley said.

"Yeah, I suppose that is a good thing." Lucas said.

Riley looked up at him and he gave her a warm smile. Riley reached up and placed her lips on his and they were kissing yet again. They were really kissing this time. There were tongues and there were moans and groans of pleasure between the pair. They explored places and positions they had never been to before tonight. They didn't go very far at all, though. They just kissed on the lips and took turns sucking on each other's necks. That was Riley's new favorite thing and Lucas was more that obliged to help her. They laid down eventually and spent a good amount of time with Riley straddling Lucas and Lucas straddling Riley. It was absolute bliss but soon it was very close to one o'clock and it probably wouldn't do them any good to stay awake much later.

"Will you stay here tonight?" Lucas asked. It was a risky question but he really wanted to spend the rest of the night with her in his arms.

Riley had been straddling Lucas when they stopped so she climbed off of him and rested herself beside him and curled up into his side.

"There's no place I'd rather be." Riley said.

They shared a quick kiss good night before they both let sleep take them away until tomorrow.

* * *

 **AN: And that's that. I think the next chapter will be their first date as boyfriend and girlfriend so prepare for the fluff monster!**

 **I also** **apologize for the confusion last chapter as far as them moving on goes! But if this chapter didn't clear that up for you, maybe the next chapter will!**

 **Follow, review and favorite!**


	4. First Date

The following days were pretty uneventful for our newest couple. Riley started her internship and that seemed to be going well. She didn't have the opportunity to talk to Lucas about it much because their schedules started to conflict. Riley would typically be done at her internship around five o'clock and around that time, Lucas would have to finish finalizing some details for his internship, including getting to know the staff he would be working with. They both understood that their careers would have to come first for the moment.

It was now New Year's Eve so Lucas figured it seemed like a perfect, yet completely cliche, time to take Riley out on their first official date as boyfriend and girlfriend. He thought it would be best to ask her in person. She wasn't in her apartment with Maya so he tried her parent's place. He doubted she would be there but he had been wrong before and didn't really know where else to look. He knocked on the door and it was opened about thirty seconds later by none other than Topanga Matthews.

"Lucas?" she asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Sorry to bother you Mrs. Matthews," Lucas said. "I was just looking for Riley."

"Riley's already at the office." Topanga informed him. "There was an early meeting for the interns this morning."

"Ah," Lucas said in realization. "Well, if she comes by let her know I'm looking for her."

"I will," Topanga told Lucas.

Lucas returned to his apartment and continued unpacking his things. His family and friends were continuing to send things from his home that he couldn't take with him on his flight. It seemed like everyday he had to continue unpacking the same amount of stuff.

At around twelve o'clock, Lucas heard a knock at his door. He went to answer the door and was surprised to see one Riley Matthews standing behind it. She looked exactly like a lawyer. She had a navy blue pantsuit on with a baby blue collared shirt and a pair of high heeled black boots. Her hair was down and straight and her bangs were pinned back away from her face. She was the most attractive lawyer he had ever seen.

"Hey," he said with an involuntary grin on his face.

"Hi," Riley responded as a huge smile swept across her face and she let out a small giggle that was extremely un-Riley like. It still made Lucas feel funny and special since he was the only person who could make her feel this way.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. "Not that I'm not happy to see you but I thought you had to work."

"I did but I'm on lunch break now." Riley responded. "My mom said you wanted to talk to me anyway."

"Oh right," Lucas said as he itched the back of his head, suddenly feeling nervous. He didn't know why he was nervous though. He was going to ask her to go on a date so he really had no need to be nervous. They were boyfriend and girlfriend now so going on dates was kind of a part of the deal. And really, he had asked her on plenty of dates before and she had said yes to all of them, so why should she say no now?

"I was just wondering if you had any plans for tonight?" Lucas managed to ask.

Riley smiled wide, bit her lower lip and focused her attention on the ground. When she looked back up a few seconds later, She was still smiling and looked a little red but Lucas was sure she would have looked much more silly if she hadn't have taken a moment to compose herself. Nevertheless, her smile was contagious and he couldn't help a huge grin from appearing on his face too.

"No, I don't," Riley said.

"And you don't have to work late?"

"Nope."

"Great." Lucas said. "Well I was just wondering, since it is New Year's Eve, that we should… hang out?"

"Are you asking me on a date?" Riley said with that huge smile still plastered on her face.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Lucas said.

Riley didn't say anything but her smile was so wide, Lucas thought her mouth was going to fall off of her face. Suddenly her whole body started to squirm and Lucas knew exactly what was coming and braced himself and his eardrums.

"Yeeeaayy!" Riley exclaimed. He hadn't seen or heard her do that since high school. It felt good though and Lucas never realized just how cute it was until now.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'?" Lucas asked.

"Oh, of course!" Riley breathlessly exclaimed.

"Great!" Lucas said. "How about I meet you after you get done with the internship today?"

"Oh, well actually I should probably go home and let my family know where I'm going to be. Is it all right if we meet at my parent's apartment around six?"

"That sounds perfect." Lucas said.

"Fantastic!" Riley responded as she glanced at her watch. "Oh, I have to head back to the office, but I'll see you tonight?"

"Sounds great!" Lucas said before he gently pecked her lips.

* * *

Truth be told, Riley could have had Lucas pick her up at the law firm after work and everything would have gone fine but this was their first date as boyfriend and girlfriend and she wanted to look absolutely gorgeous for him. She partially wished it wasn't winter in New York because then she could wear one of her many flowing dresses but she would probably freeze to death if that happened now. Instead, she decided to go to one of the two people she could go to from the get go for help.

"Mom!" Riley exclaimed as she walked into her parent's apartment and threw her oversized coat on a chair near the door.

Topanga Matthews came out of her room to the front of her house to see what was going on with her daughter.

"What is it, honey?" Topanga asked her.

"So I have my first date with Lucas in about an hour and I want to look beautiful for him but I don't know how to do that so can you help me?" Riley said in a matter of about three seconds.

Topanga looked at her daughter, who was now pulling puppy dog eyes at her. Riley was truly nervous about this. Topanga knew, and she assumed Riley did too, that she could show up to her date with Lucas in a cat t-shirt and sweatpants and he wouldn't care but she understood where Riley was coming from. When Topanga first started dating Cory, she always wanted to look her best for him. At least in the beginning.

"Come on, let's go find something." Topanga said sweetly to her daughter as she grabbed her hand and lead her back to her room.

After trying on as many winter outfits as she possibly could, Riley finally decided on a grey sweater that was perfect for any occasion, a black leather jacket that she was pretty sure was actually Maya's, a pair of bright red skinny jeans because she had to have some color in her wardrobe, a pair of heeled tan suede ankle boots and a chunky pearl necklace she found in her mother's jewelry box. She put some loose curls in her hair and pinned the front of her hair back into a half ponytail. She even applied a touch of dark grey eyeliner and a bit of black eyeshadow to give herself a bit of a smoky eye look. She even added a dab of glitter because it's New Year's Eve so why not? Finally, she applied a light layer of red lipstick to her lips. She could hardly believe the final result. She hadn't added that much to what she would normally wear but she still looked different, but in a good way.

"How do I look, mom?" Riley asked as she turned around.

"Like your father won't let you out of the house." Topanga said as she placed one hand on her chest and smiled at her gorgeous daughter. If this didn't make Lucas speechless, she wouldn't know what would.

Riley smiled back at her mother as she twirled around in her new outfit looking as adorable as ever. Topanga couldn't help but notice the changes Riley went through in her life. She was her mother, after all. She also knew her relationship with Lucas Friar had it's ups and downs. During high school, there were a lot of mixed emotions because Lucas was not reacting to Riley the way she wanted him to but she still wanted to be his friend. Once she started college and Lucas moved to Texas, there was a lot of sadness in her daughter's eyes. A little spark seemed to come back during the Christmas holidays of her freshman year. The day Lucas returned, Topanga could not remember ever seeing her daughter quite so happy, until now that is. She felt a little neglected because, as her mother, she wanted to make Riley as happy as she would ever be but Topanga understood these feelings Riley had for Lucas. When she and Cory were dating, she was always most happy when they were together. When they would break up, whether it be because they didn't think they were spontaneous anymore or if she quit believing in 'love', she would be downright miserable. She never wanted to admit it to anybody, especially Cory, but looking back, she was pretty sure she made it very obvious that she was upset. Riley felt the same kind of happy when she was with Lucas that Topanga felt when she was with Cory and that's all she had ever dreamed for her daughter.

"You really like him, huh?" Topanga finally asked, snapping Riley out of her fairyland trance.

Riley nodded eagerly. "I do. I don't know if this is moving too fast but we told each other we loved each other last night."

"Oh, really?" Topanga asked.

"Yep." Riley said. "I mean, we are so alike. We are like a summer rain and then the clouds part after a second and a beautiful rainbow appears! It's just so magical when I'm with him."

Topanga smiled knowingly at her daughter. Yep, she knew the story all too well.

Just then, the doorbell rang from down below and Riley knew her date was here. She smiled at her mother before she grabbed her black leather purse and headed downstairs. Riley ran to the door before taking a moment to collect herself (as best as she could anyway), as swung the door wide open.

The look that came over Lucas Friar's face in that moment was possibly one of the cutest things she had ever seen. His mouth was practically on the ground and his eyes were as wide as saucers. He didn't say anything and didn't look like he could've if he wanted to.

"Wow." He finally managed to say, although he was breathless. "You look… wow!"

"Thank you," Riley said as she continued to smile at the goofy look on his face. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," he replied hoarsely and moved out of the way so Riley could walk out of the door.

"You kids have fun!" Topanga said as she waved them goodbye.

Riley had just closed the door behind her when she came into contact with a pair of soft lips. She smiled against him as he kissed her sweetly.

"What was that for?" Riley asked when they pulled away.

"You look beautiful." Lucas said. "I wish I could have known this was what you really looked like in middle school."

"Well, you realized eventually and I suppose that's all that matters." Riley said as she intertwined their fingers and began to walk out of her parent's apartment complex.

"So, what do you want to do tonight?" Riley asked.

"I have a few things in mind." Lucas said. "How about Chinese food on top of the Empire State Building?"

"That sounds great but the Empire State Building viewing hours close in a few minutes, country boy." Riley responded.

"Really?" Lucas asked.

"Yes." Riley responded. "Every New Yorker knows that."

"Huh," Lucas said as he hung his head. "Well, I guess it's a good thing I know a guy."

"You know a guy?" Riley asked, skeptically.

"Yeah," Lucas said with a small chuckle. "One of the guys I'm going to intern with has brother who works security at the Empire State Building. He said we could get in after closing hours."

"Lucas, that's amazing!" Riley exclaimed.

"More coincidence, really." Lucas replied. "So how about it?"

"Yes, that sounds absolutely brilliant."

So they were off to their favorite Chinese restaurant and then to the Empire State Building. The last of it's workers and visitors were just leaving. A man came up to the pair and Lucas introduced himself and the man wished them a happy new year and let Lucas and Riley into the elevator that would take them straight up to the top. It wasn't long after the pair reached the height of the city.

"You can really see everything from up here!" Riley exclaimed as if it were her first time being on top of this building, although Lucas and Riley both knew it wasn't. "Look, there's the ball drop!"

The shimmering ball in Times Square was still near the top of the pole but it was only eight o'clock after all. Riley and Lucas found a good spot facing Times Square and dove into their Chinese food.

"So what are you hoping for for the new year?" Lucas asked Riley.

"Well," Riley started, thinking her goals and aspirations over. "I want to continue to do a good job on my internship, I want to get into a good grad school and I want to continue to have a good relationship with you."

Lucas smiled at her as he took another bite of his noodles. He was glad he made her list.

"What about you?" Riley asked.

"Same as you, I guess," Lucas said. "You know, have a good internship, go to a good grad school, have a great relationship with you."

It was now Riley's turn to smile at him. She couldn't believe how much they meant to each other already. If it was anybody else, she might have been terrified but it had been ten (almost eleven) years since she fell into his lap on the subway.

"Have you started looking at grad schools yet?" Riley asked him.

"Yeah, a bit." Lucas responded. "I don't have my mind set on one particular school yet but I have a few I was thinking of applying to. What about you?"

"Me too," Riley said. "If it wasn't for you, I'd probably just continue at NYU."

"I'm sorry, Riley," Lucas said.

"Oh, please, don't be." Riley responded. "I've lived my entire life in New York, I need to get out. If it wasn't for you and Maya, I don't know if I'd ever leave my house."

Lucas continued to smile at her before asking her a question. "So you want to leave New York?"

"I don't really want to but I know if I don't do it now, I probably never will." Riley responded.

"So you don't want to go very far?" Lucas asked.

"Probably not," Riley said. "I think I still want to be able to visit my parents every now and again. Childish, right?"

"No," Lucas responded, honestly. "I think it's good for you."

Riley gave him a small smirk before she realized something she really never knew about Lucas.

"What are your parents like?" Riley asked. She'd only ever briefly met his mother but hadn't as much as seen a picture of his father.

"My parents are my parents." Lucas said as his smile fell.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Riley asked. She wasn't trying to come off as pushy but rather curious.

"I just means…" Lucas trailed off. What was he supposed to say? He honestly despised his father and his mother wasn't too much better. This wasn't typical first date material and he honestly didn't want to talk about it. At least not tonight. If he stayed with Riley forever, like he wanted to, she was probably going to have to meet his parents anyway.

"It means that Maya isn't the only of your friends with a dysfunctional family life." Lucas said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Lucas." Riley said as she reached out and grabbed his shoulder as if to offer him some kind of comfort.

"It's fine. It's not your fault anyway." Lucas said. "But do you mind if we stop talking about it?"

"Sure," Riley said as she gently squeezed Lucas' bicep. "So, grad school? What schools are you thinking of applying to?"

"There are a lot of them," Lucas said as he tried to brush off the parents thing. "Wisconsin, North Carolina State, Colorado State, Cornell, Ohio State-"

"Wait," Riley cut him off. "Did you say Cornell?"

"Yeah, it's on the list." Lucas replied.

"I want to go to Cornell!" Riley exclaimed.

"Really?" Lucas asked with a smile on his face.

"Yeah!" Riley said. "It has a great law program and it's pretty close to home. It's on my list."

"Well then," Lucas started. "I guess I have a dream grad school picked out."

"Me too," Riley said as she bit her bottom lip.

Then lips clashed with lips and they were kissing. It was sweet and gentle and only lasted a few seconds before they backed away, their foreheads and noses still in contact with one another.

"It's not midnight, you know." Riley stated.

"Since when does it have to be midnight for me to kiss you?"

"Well, it has been some of our best work." Riley stated.

Riley was right. Lucas thought back to all of their midnight kisses. The mistletoe, the kiss after her breakup with Dylan was close to midnight, a plethora of others when he would come to visit her, locations ranging from her fire escape to the subway platform and when they declared their love for each other a few nights ago. Midnight had brought some of their best work.

"That doesn't mean we can't practice." Lucas responded.

His eyes were still closed but she could feel her smiling before she dove back into him.

By the time midnight came around, they were still kissing and all of their practice had prepared them for their best performance yet.

* * *

 **AN: Thanks again for the follows, favorites and reviews. I appreciate all of the love! Also, Farkle couldn't hear them making out last time because he's a heavy sleeper. Or maybe he did hear them but he decided to ignore it. You be the writer on that one! :)**

 **Anyway, all this fluff has been fun, but I think it's time to get real.**

 **Follow, favorite and review!**


	5. Accepting and Rejecting

The months continued to fly by. Soon, the snow on the busy streets of New York City began to melt but the weather was still very cold. The leaves on the trees began to grow back and spring was starting to come into play. It always took a while for the weather to catch up to the scenery and you could enjoy about a week of comfortable spring weather in the city before summer arrived and you would break a sweat just walking out of your door.

Lucas had started his internship about two months ago and was absolutely loving it. He didn't think he would like working the full twenty-four hours yet but he was excited to go to work every morning. It didn't even seem like work to him, although he knew it was. That was how he knew he had chosen the right career path. He would see several animals come in every day and he would get to help save them or just check up on them. He couldn't lie, for a country boy, he was really beginning to like the city atmosphere again.

Riley was still continuing her internship at Elliot- Brown. Her internship was not quite as fun as Lucas' was because she couldn't be as hands on as she wanted to be. There was no way that a group of lawyers who all had passed the bar and attended schools ranging from NYU to Harvard would let an undergraduate intern take on a case. Riley was allowed to assistant on some cases but her job mostly consisted of running errands for the other lawyers and, in some cases, the interns. She still loved it though and couldn't wait until she finally started working at a big law firm like this.

Farkle and Maya also seemed to be enjoying their internships. Farkle would come home smelling like something new every day but it never failed to sting Lucas' nose. Farkle always insisted that he loved it though and Lucas wasn't going to be one to rain on his parade, especially if it made him half as happy as he claimed to be. He would always be trying to explain to Lucas what exactly what he was doing, but the words were too big and clumped together for the cowboy to understand. He just smiled and nodded along.

Maya was still interning at John Quincy Adams Middle School as an art teacher. She absolutely loved her work and loved working with the art teacher who had first encouraged her to continue her work as an artist, Ms. Kossal who, according to Maya, would be retiring after this school year. Maya would always come home with at least one piece of art that the students had worked on earlier that day. She, like her friends, loved her internship.

The once inseparable fearsome foursome decided to rekindle their flame one night and met at Topanga's. Lucas and Farkle were sitting on two of the huge chairs at the front of the cafe and Riley was on the bench across from them. Maya, as usual, was late. This didn't stop the three of them from having a good time together. They talked about their internships and college lives and laughed at the belly aching stories they each told.

About half an hour after the three had settled in, Maya Hart came flying through the front door, skidding across the slick floors and nearly crashing into a table. She managed to collect herself before that in a somewhat graceful manner. Riley knew if she tried to do something like that, she would have crashed into the table and probably broken something, whether it be the table or a bone in her body.

"Maya, what's going on?" Farkle asked. It was not like Maya to make an entrance like that.

"This." Maya said as she leaned over Lucas' chair, holding a manilla envelope inches from Riley's face. Riley adjusted the envelope so she could actually read it. Her mouth fell to the floor when she read the label.

 _Cornell University Office of Graduate Admissions_

Riley snatched the envelope out of Maya's hand and began to shakily open the contents. Maya eagerly took a seat by her and poked her head up to Riley's shoulder so she could read her best friend's fate along with her.

"Dear, Ms. Matthews," Riley read out loud. "It gives us great pleasure to say you have been accepted to Cornell University's School of Law!"

She was in! She was going to go to Cornell! Riley knew if she could get in, so could Lucas. Her future with him was set and she saw no bumps in the road.

The gang burst into cheers and Maya and Farkle each took their turns hugging Riley. Lucas finally got his chance with her moments later and hugged her and kissed her, much to their friends' dismay.

"I'm so proud of you, Riles." Lucas said to her.

"Thank you." Riley responded, excitedly. "I'm so happy! If I got in, that surely means you would too!"

Lucas wasn't sure if he believed that as strongly as she did but he smiled along anyway. He wasn't about to have an argument with her during such a happy time.

"This calls for celebration!" Farkle exclaimed.

"Yes!" Maya agreed. "And I know just the place." The blonde girl gave Riley a mischievous grin and Riley seemed to catch on, although the two boys were lost.

"What?" Farkle asked first.

"Club Sharp." Maya said. The pair of best friends explained to the guys that it was one of the hottest clubs in New York. It sat on top of a skyscraper in the city and had a pool, karaoke and anything else you could place in a club and then some.

"Plus, Josh is supposed to be DJing there tonight." Maya said.

Riley groaned loudly. Maya and her Uncle Josh had started dating almost two years ago. She was happy they were happy but she still didn't really like to see them getting too intimate that often and Club Sharp was one of the capitals of intimacy in the city. She suspected Maya felt the same way about her and Lucas. Maya only thought of the cowboy as a brother, after all.

After a few more conversations the group agreed to go to this Club Sharp and party the night away. They took the subway back to their apartments and started to get ready. Lucas and Farkle decided to kill some time by watching TV before they started to get ready. Riley and Maya were probably going to take at least two hours getting ready for tonight. All they had to do was put on a different shirt.

Farkle excused himself to go change in his room at about ten until nine and Lucas took this as his cue to change too. He was looking everywhere for a specific shirt of his until he figured in might be in the suitcase by the door and his suspicions were correct. When he went to go change in the middle of the room, he saw an envelope on the ground by the door. He must have missed it earlier today. The letter was addressed to him and was from Cornell University Office of Graduate Admissions.

Lucas excitedly tore open the envelope in the same fashion Riley had done earlier today. He shakily took out the contents and began to read them to himself.

 _Dear Mr. Friar,_

 _Thank you for your interest in Cornell University for your graduate studies. However, we can only select a certain number of students for our veterinary school. Your credentials are impressive and have barely missed the mark, which is why you will be put on our university's wait list. Please look for our acceptance letter by April 3._

Lucas didn't need to read anymore. Wait list. He was on the wait list. He was on the wait list to Cornell University and Riley got in. He wasn't jealous at all and was still proud of his brilliant girlfriend but now they probably couldn't be together any longer because he was on the wait list. Cornell had one of the best veterinary programs in the nation so only an idiot would reject a school like that. He wasn't going and he knew it.

"Hey, Lucas are you ready?" Farkle asked as he came out of his room in a black sweater and black beanie.

"I don't think I'm going." Lucas responded. It was the truth. He didn't really feel like going anywhere right now.

"What? Why not?" Farkle asked.

"It's from Cornell." Lucas said as he handed Farkle the letter he had just received.

Farkle read it over quickly and understood why his friend was so upset.

"I'm sorry, Lucas." Farkle said. "But this is for Riley. Shouldn't you go?"

"You guys will be fine without me." Lucas said.

"You're not jealous are you?" Farkle asked his friend.

"No," Lucas responded honestly. "I'm not. I'm really happy for her and proud of her. It's just…"

"It's just what?"

"We had this whole thing planned out, you know. We were going to go to Cornell because it had the best veterinary program and best law program any school could have. That and Riley wants to leave the city but not go too far. Cornell would have been perfect but now, it's not going to happen."

"Lucas, it says wait list." Farkle pointed out. "You could still get in."

"I doubt it." Lucas replied. "Cornell has one of the best veterinary programs in the nation. Only and idiot would turn them down."

"I don't know, man." Farkle said but Lucas was still set in his ways. "I still think you should come though."

"Nah, I'll only be a downer." Lucas replied. "Thanks, though."

"No problem." Farkle said as he slowly walked towards the door as if he expected Lucas to change his mind.

It surprised Lucas not at all that only a few minutes later, the doorknob to his apartment turned and one Riley Matthews walked inside. Farkle must have loaned her the key.

Riley looked absolutely stunning in her club attire. It was still fairly cold outside so she had on a pair of skin tight, black leather pants with matching stiletto boots and a purple crop top with cutouts on the top. Her hair was straight and bangs pinned away from her face and she had globs of black eye shadow on. Lucas knew if he was in a club and saw her, he would hit on her, if he found the confidence. That was almost enough to get him to go. Almost.

"Hey," Riley said as she entered the living space.

"Hi," Lucas responded, locking his eyes on her. "You look great."

"Thanks." Riley said. "You should come with us."

"I'm not really in the mood." Lucas replied.

"Farkle told me." Riley said after a moment of silence. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

"It's not your fault," Lucas said as he locked eyes with the floor, this time.

"I know it's not but maybe some time out will do you good." Riley said as she reached for his hand but he snatched it away.

"Doesn't anybody understand that I just want to be alone?" Lucas said as he brushed past Riley and into the kitchen, leaning both his hands against the countertops.

"Lucas, it's really not that big of a deal." Riley stated.

"Not that big of a deal?" Lucas responded, starting to get upset now. "We're not that big of a deal?!" he asked gesturing between himself and her.

"What? No, of course we are!" Riley exclaimed. "How could you even think that?"

"Well, then what do you mean by not that big of a deal?" Lucas asked, trying his best to calm himself down.

"I mean Cornell is not the only place we can go." Riley said. "I can just stay at NYU and-"

"No, no," Lucas replied calmly, but effectively cutting her off. "I don't want you giving up Cornell for me. It's a great law school, you said it yourself. You should go."

"Okay," Riley said. "Then why are you reacting this way."

"Because I want to be with you." Lucas replied.

"So you don't want me to go to Cornell?" Riley asked.

"No," Lucas said.

"So you want me to go to Cornell?"

"Yes, but…" Lucas trailed off. How was he going to put this? "I thought we decided when we first got together that we were going to go to grad school together."

Riley couldn't help it anymore. He was so irritable some times! She nestled her hands deep in her hair and let out a huge groan.

"Lucas, you're not making any sense!" Riley exclaimed. "You want me to go because it's the best education for me but you dont want me to go so I'll stay with you?! I can't do both!"

They were silent for a long time. What were they going to do? Lucas was not one to take the best away from Riley. Cornell was one of the best law schools in the country. Unless she had also applied to some school like Harvard that he didn't know about, she should go to Cornell. But he also didn't know what this meant for their relationship. They weren't going to be able to be together now because the closest Lucas had applied to Cornell was Ohio State and that was still over five hundred miles away. He didn't want to lose Riley but she didn't feel comfortable moving that far away. What were they going to do?

Lucas and Riley both knew this wasn't going to be a decision made overnight. They were going to have to think about it for a long time and they were going to have to think about it alone.

"Have a good time tonight." Lucas finally spoke up.

It took Riley a second to answer because, frankly, she didn't know how. She didn't want to have to leave Lucas Friar but she may be left with no other choice. He needed to be alone and she knew it. She didn't want to press the issue anymore than necessary.

"I will." Riley said. She walked over to Lucas and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. "I still love you. No matter what."

"I know." Lucas responded. "I love you, too."

Riley gave him a sad smile before she walked out of the door. Waiting for her outside were Maya and Farkle.

"Are you okay, Riles?" Maya asked.

"I'm fine." Riley lied. "Let's just go."

The three took off down the hallway and to the club. Riley had no idea how the night was going to go but she did know one thing: she was going to get sloppy drunk.

* * *

 **AN: So what did you think? I'm kind of excited to see where this will be going next time, too! I think next time we'll meet drunk Riley, possibly drunk Maya and a very frazzled Farkle. Sound good?**

 **Thanks again for the** **fabulous reviews!**

 **Follow, favorite and review!**


	6. Drunk

Riley, Maya and Farkle all arrived at Club Sharp about half an hour after Riley's conversation with Lucas. Nobody had said a word the entire cab ride and Riley was fine with that but it was all Maya and Farkle could do to keep their mouths closed. They wanted to ask Riley what she wanted to do now that she was accepted to Cornell University and Lucas was not. At least not yet. They had been the couple's two biggest cheerleaders since they knew each other so they were probably going to encourage them to stay together but they wanted their friends to be happy.

Once they arrived at the club, they were IDed and allowed in. Maya made a beeline for the turntables at the front of the club where her boyfriend was and Riley dashed over to the bar ordering everything she possibly could. Jello shots, cosmopolitans, martinis, margaritas, and anything with enough alcohol to send her over the edge. She knew all she was going to be thinking about if she didn't drink tonight was Lucas and the decisions she would make. She didn't have to tell Cornell she wanted to go to their school for a few more weeks so, realistically, she had a fair amount of time. She just always liked to plan ahead and know what she was doing all of the time. She knew that wasn't realistic but this decision was so close, she could taste it. She wanted an answer and she wanted it now.

But it seemed no amount of alcohol could take this decision off of her mind. She was drunk, she knew she was, but she couldn't get him off of her mind. Riley even grabbed Farkle in the middle of his beer and threw him onto the dance floor and sloppily requested Josh to play a 'sick beat'. He answered her and soon the club was thumping like it never had before. Riley was dancing with Farkle in ways she certainly wouldn't do sober and even that didn't take her mind off of Lucas.

After about ten minutes of dancing with Farkle, who was undoubtedly getting extremely uncomfortable with her sensual moves, Riley let out a loud groan that could be heard by anybody in a ten foot radius and moved back to the bar to try another drink. Farkle followed his friend and actually beat her to the bar. Watching a drunk Riley try to walk in those ten inch heels she had on was like trying to watch Bambi learn how to walk. He wanted to be a good friend for her and he knew if she didn't stop drinking now, she would regret it in the morning.

Riley ordered something, but it wasn't very clear. The bartender nodded and walked off while Riley waited on a bar stool.

"Riley, I think you've had enough to drink." Farkle said, honestly.

"Wha?" Riley responded as she whipped her head around to look him in the eyes.

"I think you've had enough to drink!" Farkle shouted over the loud music. He tried to look at Josh so he could cue him to turn it down a bit but another DJ was in his place. Farkle looked over to the other end of the bar and saw Maya and Josh, as well as a few other VIPs, taking shots in the corner. Farkle knew Maya was a lightweight and could hardly handle a glass of wine, much less a shot and Josh would sometimes get a bit carried away when he was drinking, especially if Maya was around to coax him.

Farkle knew it was going to be a long night.

* * *

Lucas Friar was sitting at home by himself on a Saturday night, watching TV and trying to take his mind off of the Cornell wait list thing while his friends were out having the time of their lives. He wanted to go. He really did but he knew he would have had a terrible time. He was happy for Riley, that's not why he's upset. He was just more disappointed in himself. He would never admit this to anybody, especially not Riley, because it was so arrogant but he honestly thought if she could get in to Cornell, he could too. He had always outdone her in high school. She got a B, he got an A. She ran to third base, he hit a home run. She was yearbook editor, he was class president.

But Lucas knew this wasn't high school anymore. It wasn't even college. It was the real world. Riley had worked harder than he had this time around and she won, even though there wasn't really a prize. Like he had said before, Lucas was happy for her. He just wished they could have crossed the finish line together.

Around eleven o'clock, Lucas was still awake, numbingly watching whatever was on the television, when his phone rang. He looked down to see Farkle was calling him. He almost ignored it because he thought it might be a tipsy Farkle but then he thought that might be the humor he needed to snap out of this trance.

"Hello?" Lucas said as he answered the phone.

"Lucas!" Farkle exclaimed with the right pronunciation for Lucas to tell Farkle was not tipsy, or drunk but completely sober.

"Hey, buddy. What's up?" Lucas asked, slightly disappointed.

"Riley's not back at her apartment, is she?" Farkle asked, sounding a little panicked.

"No, I don't think so." Lucas said. "I haven't heard anything."

"Well, if she was back, you would have heard her." Farkle stated.

"Farkle, where's Riley?" Lucas asked, starting to catch on to what his best friend may be telling him.

"I don't know!" Farkle exclaimed. "First she was drinking, then she was dancing with me, then she went back to get another drink but the bartender cut her off and then Maya grabbed me and made me take a shot and now I don't know where Riley is!"

"Farkle! How could you-" Lucas cut himself off and took a deep breath. In all honesty, it wasn't Farkle's fault Riley was missing, it was his. He had lashed out at her for something that wasn't her fault and made her feel like the only way she could get over it for the moment was to drink. Now, she could be anywhere in the city. It was dangerous enough for her to be alone in the city at this time of night sober when she could make rational decisions, let alone drunk when she didn't know what she was doing.

"I'll go look for her." Lucas said as he grabbed his favorite jacket out of his suitcase and walked to the door, grabbing his keys on the way. "I'll call you if I find her."

"All right, I'm sorry." Farkle said before Lucas hung up.

Little did Lucas know he wasn't going to have to be looking for Riley for very long.

* * *

Riley Matthews stumbled down the busy streets of New York from Club Sharp until she came to her apartment complex. She knew she was drunk and how it was obvious to the strangers who stared at her in a funny way. Still, she wasn't so drunk that she forgot where she lived or how to get home.

Riley had decided to leave the bar because it wasn't doing anything for her besides making her time in the bathroom the next morning that much longer. The alcohol wasn't having the effects that she hoped. She was still thinking about Lucas, the bartender cut her off claiming she was too intoxicated and Farkle was watching over her like a hawk. She was twenty- two years old for christ's sake! She didn't need a babysitter. Maya must have guessed he was being too clingy to Riley so she pulled him into the VIP area with Josh and his gang and made him take a shot or two when Riley made her getaway.

Riley wasn't going home because she was planning on calling it a night, although that wouldn't have been her worst idea. She was going home because she wanted to give Lucas Friar a piece of her mind. How dare he make her feel bad about getting into Cornell! How dare he confuse her over what should be an easy decision! He gave her all sorts of mixed signals, which was very typical of him. It was something about him that she hated.

Riley finally got the apartment complex and let herself in. She was barely able to walk on a flat surface so she figured daring the stairs to trip her would only be a losing battle. Riley entered the elevator and rode it up to the fourth floor where she, Maya, Lucas and Farkle resided. The elevator ride seemed to even further inhibit her ability to walk so she was leaning on the walls for support.

Finally, she reached Lucas' door but didn't even get the chance to knock because Lucas Friar himself opened the door before she got the chance.

"Riley." He said as if he were relieved.

Riley continued to knock as if he hadn't opened the door, but was instead hitting Lucas in the head with her fist. Lucas grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Sweetheart, I'm right here." Lucas stated. Riley whipped her head up from starring at the floor to staring at him. She looked completely wasted. If the stench of alcohol that covered her own body wasn't enough to give her away, her looks certainly did. Her once perfect eye makeup was beginning to drool down her face and it reminded Lucas of their time in high school. Her eyes were completely glazed over and he almost felt like he was talking to a blind person.

"You!" Riley suddenly accused loudly, lifting her finger up to him, but even that small action seemed to throw her off balance. Lucas reached out to catch her and pulled her in to the apartment. He might have put her back in her own apartment if Maya was home or if she wasn't this drunk. He knew somebody had to watch her and he felt bad that he was the reason she felt like she needed to do this.

"You did this to me!" Riley slurred as she steadied herself in the middle of the room.

"I know," Lucas said. "I'm sorry. You're right, though. It wasn't worth getting that upset about."

"Damn right it wasn't!" Riley exclaimed as she went to turn around but lost her footing yet again and fell on her side, hard.

"Riley!" Lucas exclaimed, rushing over to her. "Are you all right?"

Riley giggled slightly in response. Lucas was officially confused about what to think. What was she amused at? Was it him or herself?

"All right, come on," Lucas said as he lifted her into his arms and placed her on the pull out bed. He undid the zippers on her boots and threw them behind the couch. She could come back and get them once she was sober.

"Oh, Lucas come on. We've only been dating for a couple of months!" Riley exclaimed, as if Lucas was taking off her bra instead of her shoes.

"I'm sorry, Riles." Lucas said before he positioned her on the bed so she could go to sleep. Hopefully she'd get the idea or at least pass out soon.

Riley seemed to understand immediately what was happening because she closed her eyes and fell asleep. Lucas waited a few minutes to make sure she was actually asleep and not pretending so she could pull some hoax and run off when he wasn't looking. Once he was sure she was asleep, he moved to the other side of the room to find his old white t-shirt and stripped to his boxers and threw his shirt on before joining Riley in bed.

Once Lucas had laid down, Riley turned over and curled up into him. He gently rested an arm around her waist and she reached up to sloppily kiss his cheek.

"Love you." she muttered when she removed her lips from his cheek.

"I love you, too." Lucas said as he placed a lingering kiss on her forehead and then let sleep take him away.

* * *

Riley shot awake the next morning. She would usually wake up gradually but not today. She knew this was going to be how she spent her morning but she wasn't looking forward to it.

She sprang out of bed, thereby awakening Lucas Friar, and dashed to the bathroom. She barely had enough time to shut the door and lift the toilet seat before she spewed out the contents of all of her drinks last night. She knew this was going to happen the second she walked into the bar but she decided this morning that it wasn't worth it.

It wasn't until Riley rested her head on the edge of the toilet and heard a soft knocking on the door that sounded like a gang of hammers slamming against the door, that she was not in her own apartment. A similar place, but nonetheless not hers. Where could she possibly be?

"Riley?" she heard a voice from behind the door.

Lucas.

Oh, no. What had she done? She couldn't remember anything from last night after arriving at the bar and her first couple of drinks. How had she ended up here and not back at her apartment with Maya? More importantly, what had she done or said to Lucas? She knew she only reason she even wanted to get drunk in the first place was because he made her feel bad about getting into Cornell. Maybe she had confronted him about it? Riley had seen some TV shows where people would get drunk and do some things that were absolutely crazy. Hopefully none of that had happened.

"Riley, can I come in?" Lucas asked.

Instead of answering him, because Riley knew she would only add to her pain level if she talked right now, she stood up as quickly as she could and opened the door.

"Hey," Riley said as she opened it.

"Hi," Lucas responded. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Riley said. "Well, as expected anyway. I think I can go back to my apartment."

"Okay," Lucas responded. He wouldn't have minded staying with Riley this morning but he knew she still needed time to think about this decision, and frankly, so did he.

Riley brushed past Lucas and opened his door to go to hers. It wasn't until now that she remembered giving Maya the key. Riley sighed as she banged on the door, giving herself a very bad headache.

"Maya!" Riley exclaimed. "Open up!"

There was still no response. A few moments later, Riley remembered that Josh was also at the bar so her best guess was that Maya was passed out at Josh's mansion of a New York apartment.

Riley sighed. The way she saw it she had two options: wait in the hallway for Maya or return to Lucas' apartment. After realizing that she probably looked like complete garbage, Riley chose the latter and knocked on Lucas' door.

"Hi, again." Riley said when he answered her.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, its just Maya should have the key to our apartment and I'm pretty sure she's at Josh's right now so can I stay here for a bit?" Riley asked.

"Absolutely." Lucas answered without hesitating and moving out of her way so she could come inside.

"Thanks." Riley said as she entered.

"No problem." Lucas responded. "I was going to go take a shower though, is that okay?"

"Yeah, go ahead." Riley said.

Lucas nodded and went over to one of his suitcases to get his clothes. Riley stayed in the middle of the room just looking out the window. Both of their windows were the size of the wall and they really did have a nice view of the city. As she was staring out at the skyline, Riley started to smell something really bad. She was still a bit hung over and didn't expect to smell like roses but this was really bad. She looked down at herself to realize what had happened earlier this morning.

"Oh, gross!" Riley exclaimed.

"What?" Lucas asked as he was about to enter his bathroom.

"Nothing." Riley said trying to brush it off. It was pretty embarrassing after all.

"Really?" Lucas asked as he raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

Riley sighed. "Don't make fun of me." Riley pleaded.

"I'm not going to make fun of you." Lucas said with a small laugh. She was cute when she was embarrassed.

"I-I vomited on myself this morning." Riley said as she turned around to reveal a narrow line of vomit running down from her sweater to about her mid- calf.

Lucas could not hold in his laughter any longer. It wasn't all that embarrassing int the grand scheme of things. He had done worse. She had done worse.

"Lucas!" Riley exclaimed. "You said you weren't going to make fun of me!"

"I'm sorry." Lucas said as he caught his breath. "I'm not making fun of you. I just think you're cute when you're embarrassed."

Riley half smiled at him. He always had a way to make her feel better when she was down.

Lucas walked back over to his suitcase and grabbed one of his t-shirts and a pair of sweatpants.

"Here," he said handing it to her. "You can wear this for now."

"Are you sure?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, it's no problem." Lucas said. "I haven't had a chance to wear that since I got here anyway. Too casual."

Riley nodded as she took his clothes.

"The bathroom is yours." Lucas said.

"I thought you were going to shower?" Riley asked.

"I was but, don't take this the wrong way, you need it more than I do." Lucas said.

Riley would have been offended but she hadn't heard more true words in her life.

"All right." She said. "Thanks, Lucas."

"No problem." He said as he gave her a peck on the cheek.

Riley entered the bathroom and stripped down to her underwear before washing her face and even finding a comb to brush out her hair. She found some mouthwash too so she could get the vomit taste out of her mouth and then changed into Lucas' clothes. They were too big for her as expected but she rolled up the teams of his pants to make it cling to her waist more and take a few inches off the pant leg.

Lucas saw Riley reenter the main room a few moments later wearing his clothes. He couldn't tell you how much of a turn on that was for him. He loved her and he loved her in his clothes.

"Bathroom's free." Riley said as she came up to him in the small kitchen area. Lucas thought that statement was sexy also.

"Thanks," Lucas responded. "I don't think we have anything other that cereal if you're hungry."

"That's all right." Riley said. "I'm not really hungry and I'll probably just need some coffee."

"All right," Lucas said. "Help yourself."

Lucas went to the bathroom to take a shower and Riley moved to his and Farkle's coffee maker to start brewing a pot. She wondering where Farkle was for a brief moment but then realized he was probably at Josh's too. The same thing had happened on his twenty- first birthday.

As Riley sipped her coffee, only two thoughts came to mind. One was that Lucas Friar was naked in the shower that was only a few feet away from her. She thought about sneaking a peak but thought better of it. The second was the thought that had been on her mind since the previous night; what were they going to do about grad school? Lucas was still on the wait list and he could still get in. That's how Riley, an optimist, saw it but Lucas, a somewhat pessimist, saw things differently. He was sure he wasn't going to get in but Riley still had faith. She would probably still have faith even if he didn't get accepted, like something impossible was going to happen.

What should she do if he didn't get accepted? Would she still go? Riley didn't know of any other schools they had both applied to so Cornell was it. They had really put all their eggs in one basket. Could she really be away from him for two years and still keep a steady relationship? It wasn't all that difficult when they were undergrads because they hadn't established themselves as anything. Now, they were definitely boyfriend and girlfriend and Riley was worried that might put some label on how often they were supposed to see each other or talk to each other. Riley wanted to talk to Lucas just about every night during their undergrad work but knew there were nights she would be lucky to get any sleep at all. Her graduate degree was probably going to be twice as hard to earn so she hoped they could make this work.

Riley sighed as she continued to sip on her coffee, going back and forth on what she should do about Cornell and about the shower. It was driving her crazy not being able to talk about her problems for the moment. It rarely ever happened that Riley had a problem she couldn't talk to her friends about right away. Now was one of those times.

Finally, Riley heard the shower shut off and saw Lucas step out fully clothed moments later. He looked really sexy with wet hair.

"How was she shower?" She asked.

"Oh, you know, wet." Lucas responded as he grabbed the pot of coffee she had made and poured himself a cup. "Thanks."

"No problem," Riley said.

They didn't realize how big of an elephant in the room their grad school issue was going to be. It was tearing up the air and neither of them felt like they could breathe.

"I…um…I didn't do anything too embarrassing last night, did I?" Riley asked.

"No," Lucas said. "You fell over a few times but you were mostly just mad a me."

"Well, that explains why my side hurts." Riley stated as she rubbed the side of her lower back.

"Are you okay?" He asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Riley said honestly. It hurt but it would go away in a few days.

"You had every right to be upset at me." Lucas said. "I was acting like an idiot. I didn't take the time to analyze the situation and realize that we could make this work."

"You think so?" Riley asked.

"Yes." Lucas said. "This might sound crazy but I think if every relationship on the planet failed expect one, I think it would be ours."

"You sound like my dad talking to my mom." Riley said.

"Well, that's a good thing, right?" Lucas asked.

"That's a very good thing." Riley said with a smile.

"I-I just… I want you to do whatever you think is best for you and your career." Lucas said. "And if that means going to Cornell, then that's just something we'll have to work around."

"Lucas, you're not taking yourself into account." Riley said. "I think my career is important but you are also very important to me. If you weren't here or we weren't boyfriend and girlfriend, this would be an easy decision."

"I'm sorry, Riley." Lucas said.

"None of this is your fault." Riley said. "I wouldn't change a moment I've had with you."

Lucas smiled at this. She was amazing and it amazed him that she cared about him so much.

"I just wish I could've gotten in." Lucas said.

"You still might. It says wait list, Lucas." Riley said.

"Yeah, but we should prepare for the worst." Lucas responded. "I might not get in."

"Maybe, but I still believe in you." Riley said.

Lucas had to smile at her brilliance yet again.

"I love you, you know?" Lucas said.

"I love you, too." Riley said.

"And I'll support whatever decision you make." Lucas said.

Riley set her coffee down on the counter and walked over to him and grabbed him in a hug. Lucas was quick to respond to her hug and rested one hand on her waist and one hand in her hair.

"We can get through this." Lucas whispered into her ear.

"You think?" Riley asked.

"I know."

* * *

 **AN: Thanks again for all the fantastic reviews! I love you all! I feel like I say that all the time but I really mean it!**

 **I think the next chapter will have quite a bit of Cory and Topanga in it because parents are the best!**

 **Follow, favorite and review!**


	7. We Know the Story

Riley returned to her internship the following morning. She hadn't talked to Lucas much more since the previous day. Maya came home about ten minutes after their conversation and Riley decided to go home with her. Riley had tried to talk to Maya about her problem but Maya was too hungover to listen to her, much less give her any advice. Farkle came home a bit later than Maya did and he was also in bad shape. Instead, Riley decided to go to her room and watch old episodes of Red Planet Diaries to get her mind off of things. The show had had it's season finale in her senior year of high school. The ending was disappointing but the show itself was pretty exciting.

Now she was at work trying to take her mind off of everything that had happened and was inevitably going to happen but she was failing miserably. Everything reminded her of her impending decisions. From the court documents she had to supervise to her fellow interns talking about grad school. It was almost late March so everybody knew exactly where they were going except Riley.

Riley had also been accepted to NYU and, believe it or not, the University of Texas. She knew it was on Lucas' list and she had always wanted to go there. She would probably be a little uncomfortable being that far away from her family but if Lucas was there, that was better than nothing. It still wasn't her first choice but if she decided she wanted to be with Lucas more than anything, she would go to Texas.

She still had hope that he would get into Cornell though. She was really, really hoping that somebody would reject them and Lucas would get in. Riley had a bad habit of checking Lucas' mail before he got home to see if there was a letter from Cornell but so far there hadn't been one. The deadline was only getting closer and that was making Riley really nervous. She hoped he would get a letter.

Riley was planning on eating lunch with Lucas and the gang today but she really didn't feel like it now. Every time Riley was around Lucas, she was just reminded of her impending decision. This wasn't a decision that should be made under pressure and she knew that. Around eleven o'clock, Riley decided to eat lunch by herself. She didn't like ignoring Lucas like this but she didn't need any extra pressure. She quickly texted him telling him something had come up and she wouldn't be able to make lunch. He texted back about an hour later with an 'ok' and a frowning face.

Just as Riley was about to leave for her apartment to eat whatever food they had left over, she passed her mother's office. Maybe she wouldn't have to eat alone.

"Hey, Mom." Riley said peaking her head into her mother's office.

"Hi, Riley." Topanga replied, setting her papers down and putting full attention on her daughter. "What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing." Riley replied. "I was just wondering if you had any lunch plans."

"No," Topanga replied. "I was just planning on going home and eating whatever leftovers we had at home."

"Okay," Riley said. "Is it all right if I join you?"

"Of course," Topanga said. A few moments later, the mother- daughter pair were heading back to the apartment in Greenwich Village.

"So can Maya or Lucas not make lunch?" Topanga asked once she had entered the apartment with her daughter.

"No," Riley replied. "We were all supposed to have lunch together today. It's just…"

Riley began to trail off. She didn't know why but she felt tears start to come to her eyes. She wasn't sad about the situation at all but she was very, very stressed about it. Maybe now was the breaking point. She had assignments and projects in school before that made her cry because she was stressed. She probably started crying here because she was not afraid to reveal her emotions in the home she grew up in. She would never be afraid here.

"Oh, Riley," Topanga sympathized, dropping her suitcase on the couch and engulfing her daughter in a hug. "What's wrong? Did you and Lucas have a fight? Or you and Maya?"

"No, Mom," Riley said as she began to back out of the hug, trying to pull herself together but still sniffling. "Lucas and I are fine. So are me and Maya. It's just this whole grad school thing. I don't know what to do about this."

Topanga sighed as she came to realize why her daughter was so upset. She couldn't help but think of having to decide between Cory and Yale once she graduated high school.

"Have you talked to Lucas about this?" Topanga asked.

"Yes," Riley replied. "He- he really wants me to go. I can tell he's genuinely proud of me but he's also upset that he didn't get in."

"I thought you said he was on the waitlist?" Topanga asked.

"He is." Riley said. "But the deadline for an acceptance letter is getting closer and he hasn't gotten anything yet."

Riley took a deep breath, trying to keep her anger over this situation away from her mother. It was in no way Topanga's fault Lucas was on the waitlist to Cornell. It wasn't anybody's fault really which was mist frustrating about all of this. There wasn't one person she could walk up to and blame for this.

"Do you mind if I give you a piece of advice?" Topanga asked.

"Please," Riley begged. She needed somebody to help clear her head about all of this.

Topanga lead her daughter over to the kitchen table and began to make sandwiches for the pair. Once she was done, she sat down at the table across from Riley and handed her daughter her lunch.

"Did I ever tell you about the time I got into Yale?"

Riley nearly spat out her food. Her mother was accepted to Yale? But she didn't go to Yale did she? Why on earth would she turn down a school as good as Yale?

"What?!" Riley exclaimed. "Why on earth would you turn down Yale?! I would kill to go there."

"Yeah, I thought I would too." Topanga said. "Several members of my family went to Yale. I was devastated when I got my letter saying I was on the waitlist."

Riley looked up at her mother with a small smile. It was nice to know somebody she knew made the waitlist to a pretty prestigious school and then got in.

"Shortly before the deadline, I got a letter in the mail saying I was accepted, only I wasn't very excited."

"Why not?" Riley asked.

"Well, your Uncle Shawn was on the waitlist to Pennbrook. Your father did everything he could to get him in. He kept telling all of our classmates that Pennbrook was a terrible school and they should go somewhere else."

"That sounds like him." Riley muttered.

"Anyway," Topanga resumed with a smile. "Shawn eventually got in but he decided he didn't want to go."

"Why not?" Riley asked.

"He already had a job he really liked." Topanga responded.

"What job was that?" Riley asked.

"Mm, that's not important." Topanga replied, sparing her daughter of the image of Maya's stepfather photographing nude women.

"So your father was upset, as he usually is when change happens. I knew that when I got my acceptance letter. That's why I wasn't excited to get into Yale because I knew your father would be upset with more and more change."

"So what did you do?" Riley asked.

"Well, I thought about it for a while but I couldn't really think straight, much like you." Topanga said. "So, I went to talk to one of our teachers."

"Feeny." Riley said in the voice her Uncle Eric had taught her when she was little.

"Yes, Mr. Feeny," Topanga said with a chuckle. "And he was able to clear my head with his advice. Like he always did."

"What did he say?" Riley asked, eagerly. Maybe this advice could help her too.

"Unless you have a really good reason not to go to Yale, you should go." Topanga replied.

"But you didn't go." Riley reasoned. "You much have had a really good reason."

"I did." Topanga said.

"What was it?" Riley asked.

"Your father." Topanga replied. "He was my really good reason. I could have gone to Yale and done well there but I chose my personal life over my professional one. Now, it doesn't really matter because I'm working with people who did go to Yale. I'm not saying the same success is going to happen for you but, you have to chose what you value more: Cornell or your really good reason."

Suddenly, it all became so clear for Riley.

* * *

Lucas Friar had just received a text from his girlfriend saying she couldn't make lunch. Farkle also said something had come up so it was just him and Maya now. He didn't really mind much though. They were good friends and always had been.

He had agreed to meet Maya and the school and then the two of them would go to a restaurant down the street. Lucas, like Riley, had a lot on his mind. He was stressing over her decision. It was all hers and he would just have to live with whatever she chose. He wanted her to stay with him. He really did. They had just started this relationship and it was going so well, he'd hate to see distance as the thing that broke them up. He promised her they would make it through anything but he really had no way of knowing if that was true. He hoped it would be and he was sure she needed to hear that but he couldn't see into the future.

He realized once he stepped into the building that was his middle school alma mater, Lucas needed some advice and he needed it badly. Luckily, he knew exactly where to go. Instead of waiting outside of the art room like Maya had told him, Lucas headed to good old room number eighteen.

The lunch bell rang and students from Cory Matthews classroom flooded out the door, running as fast to the cafeteria as they possibly. Lucas remembered those days and wished for the simplicity of them again. All his problems he thought were problems back then where hardly anything to worry about now.

Once the last of the children in the room had come into the hallways, Lucas entered the room. Mr. Matthews was putting the last of his things from this class into his briefcase when he looked up to see one of his old students standing in the doorway.

"Hello, Mr. Friar." Cory greeted. "Good to see you."

"You too, sir." Lucas responded.

"So, what brings you back to your old stomping grounds?" Cory asked.

"Well, I was here so I could meet up with Maya and we could grab lunch but I was wondering if I could get some advice from you." Lucas said.

"Is this about Cornell?" Cory asked knowingly.

"It is." Lucas said. "Do you have any advice for me on how to handle this situation?"

"Sit down, Mr. Friar." Cory instructed.

Lucas moved to sit in one of the too small desks at the front of the class, the one Maya Hart once occupied, while Cory leaned against the back of the desk.

"I was once in a situation very similar to yours." Cory stated once they were situated.

"You were?" Lucas asked.

"Yes," Cory said. "My wife was accepted to Yale when we came out of high school. But she decided not to go."

"Why not?" Lucas asked. He couldn't understand why somebody would turn down a school like that.

"Well, she decided something was more important." Cory stated.

"You?" Lucas asked.

"No, not just me." Cory stated. "The idea of being away from her home scared her. The idea of being away from her friends scared her."

"So what does this have to do with the situation Riley and I are in?" Lucas asked.

"Lucas, I was so sure Topanga was going to chose to go to Yale." Cory said. "It was her dream school and her family had all gone to Yale. I tried my best to support her but I guess I was pretty transparent. She decided to stay in Philadelphia because she choose her personal life over her professional life. Now, Riley has to make that decision and you are going to have to live with whatever decision she makes."

Lucas nodded. He knew all of this was true before he came here, but for some reason, it didn't make sense until now. He knew he was going to have to support Riley and he didn't want to be the reason her career didn't turn into everything she ever wanted it to be.

"But you may not have to worry about that after all, right?" Cory asked.

"Sir?" Lucas responded, confused.

"Well, from what Riley told me, I understand you are on the waitlist." Cory said.

"Oh, yeah." Lucas responded. "But the cut off date is coming soon and I still haven't gotten a letter."

"Don't lose hope too soon, Mr. Friar." Cory stated. "Topanga was on the waitlist to Yale but she still got in."

"Thanks, Mr. Matthews." Lucas said as he stood up out of the chair. "This has helped a lot."

"Anytime, Lucas."

* * *

The rest of Lucas' day was pretty uneventful. He ate lunch with Maya then returned to his internship where he helped with three regular checkups. He returned home from work at a quarter after five fully intent on going to Riley's apartment and telling her she should go to Cornell. However, as soon as he entered the apartment complex, he saw the metal mailboxes bolted to the walls and the words Mr. Matthews had told him earlier replayed in his head.

 _"_ _Don't lose hope too soon, Mr. Friar."_

Lucas dashed over to the mailboxes before he had a chance to mentally argue with himself. He took out the small key that would open his and Farkle's mailbox, put the key in the lock and opened it. Inside were a few letters ranging from bills to phony advertisements he would have to throw away. Near the bottom of the stack was a letter adressed to him that he had been looking forward to for a while now.

 _Cornell University Office of Graduate Admissions._

* * *

 **AN: Oh cliffhanger. Well, I'm pretty sure you guys already know what's going to happen but I won't spoil anything for you now.**

 **I read through this story this other day as well as Attractive and I'm not sure about you guys but I feel like there has been very little focus on Riley and Maya's friendship so next chapter will mostly be about them!**

 **Follow, favorite and review!**


	8. Roomies

"Riley!"

Riley had gotten home not ten minutes ago when she heard her boyfriend shouting her name and what sounded like a jackhammer trying to get into her apartment. Riley immediately ran to the door to open it. After talking to her mom, she had come to a decision about this whole Cornell thing so she really needed to talk to him too.

Riley opened the door and Lucas brushed past her into her small living area.

"I have to tell you something." Lucas said with a huge smile on his face.

"So do I." Riley said back. "Can I go first?"

"Sure," Lucas said as his smile fell and he gave her his full attention.

"I-I've decided not to go to Cornell." Riley stated. "I know it's a good school and all but I got accepted into a few other places, including the University of Texas and I-"

"Wait," Lucas stopped her. "You got into Texas? I didn't even know you applied there."

"Yeah," Riley said shyly. "I wasn't going to tell you in case I didn't get in. Besides, it seemed kind of silly to put all our eggs into one basket."

"True," Lucas agreed. "So you want to go to Texas?"

"It's not really my first choice." Riley replied. "But I'll go anywhere as long as it is with you."

Lucas was sure if he witnessed a couple saying something like that to each other on the street or on a television screen, he would lose his lunch. However, he felt so special when somebody said it to him.

"What was your first choice?" Lucas asked.

"Well, Cornell but I'd rather be with you." Riley said. "I wouldn't turn down that school if I didn't have a really good reason."

"Well, you might not have to turn them down just yet." Lucas said as he slammed the envelope he had received earlier on the counter. Riley's eyes widened when she saw that it was from Cornell. The cut off date was soon but not quite yet.

"You got in?" Riley asked.

"I don't know yet," Lucas said as he rubbed his hands together and started bouncing around. "I wanted to open it with you."

"Well, open it then!" Riley exclaimed.

Lucas took the letter and tore it out of the envelope, shakily reading the contents out loud.

"Dear Mr. Friar," he began. "It gives us great pleasure to say that due to an underwhelming number of students in our veterinarian program, that you have been moved off the waitlist and are hereby accepted to Cornell University!"

Riley squealed and Lucas let out something between a "hoary!" and a "yay!". Riley ran at him, grasping him in a bear hug and he hugged her back.

"I'm so proud of you, Lucas." Riley muttered into his chest.

She then looked up at him and his lips collided with hers. They were kissing for god knows how long until Maya finally came home.

"Hey, Riles how was your- oh my god!" Maya exclaimed as the couple broke apart but still held each other close. "Take your tongue somewhere else, Bucky McBoing Boing!"

"Sorry," Lucas muttered. "I should probably go home anyway. Farkle and I are supposed to try out this new video game."

He give Riley another chaste before he said his goodbyes.

"I'll see you later, Riles." He said.

"Okay." Riley answered biting her lip and giggling like a school girl. It was absolutely ridiculous the control this boy had over her.

Maya groaned in the corner and Lucas saw this as an opportunity to mess around with his other friend.

"You want one?" Lucas asked as he approached Maya with arms spread apart for a hug, although they both knew that's not what he was talking about.

"What? No! Huckleberry, get your gross lips away from me!" Maya exclaimed.

Lucas was able to chase Maya into a corner and although she leaned as far away from him as she could, he was still able to peck her cheek. A sour look remained on Maya's face even after he had backed away. Riley was trying to hold back her laughter as she witnessed this scene unfold.

"I'll get you for that, Cowboy." Maya said in a dangerously low tone. Lucas seemed unfazed.

"Yes ma'am." He replied as he tipped an imaginary cowboy hat and walked out of their apartment.

Riley giggled as Maya wiped her face where Lucas had kissed her.

"Are you okay?" Riley asked through a chuckle.

"Your boyfriend is disgusting." Maya stated. "Also would you guys mind if you didn't do that while I'm around?"

"Oh, please!" Riley exclaimed. "I've walked in on you and Josh doing much worse. I know you think of Lucas as a brother but Josh is actually my uncle."

Maya sighed. "You're right." She said.

"Of course I am," Riley replied in a sarcastic tone. "How was your day?"

Maya's attitude seemed to shift but Riley was still on cloud nine about Lucas getting into Cornell so she didn't notice.

"Oh, it was fine." Maya said. "The usual. What about you?"

"Lucas got into Cornell!" Riley exclaimed. She felt like if she kept that in any longer she was going to explode.

Maya seemed a bit taken aback by her friend's sudden outburst but understood why it meant so much to her.

"That's great." Maya said. "Tell him I said congrats."

They were silent for a few minutes longer. Finally, Riley started to pull out pots and pans to make dinner for them while Maya stood there, debating whether or not she should tell Riley what happened today. It was pretty big news and Riley was going to find out eventually. Maya eventually decided to just rip the bandaid off and see what happened.

"So, something rather exciting did happen today." Maya stated as Riley began to pre-heat the oven.

"Oh?" Riley asked. "Tell me what happened, peaches."

Adding that adorable nickname only seemed to make it worse for Maya. It was always hard to break the truth to Riley when she called her that nickname and it was almost like Riley had a seventh sense for when Maya was going to tell her some bad news.

"I…um…" Maya started feeling a little hesitant now. There was no going back now though. "I got a job today."

"What?" Riley asked as she almost dropped the pot out of her hand. "How? Where?"

"John Quincy Adams Middle School." Maya replied. "I'm going to be the new art teacher."

Riley was happy for her best friend until she realized what this meant.

"We're not going to be together?" Riley asked with sad puppy dog eyes.

"No, sweetheart." Maya said with an equally sad face. "I've already talked to Josh about it and I'm going to be moving in with him over the break. He lives closer to the school anyway so the commute will be better."

Riley had stopped her cooking and was now leaning against the counter trying not to cry. It's not like she wouldn't ever see Maya again but they had known each other since they were five years old. They had at least seen each other almost everyday since. When they were growing up, Maya and Riley lived twenty minutes apart and for the past four years they had been living together. Now, they were going to be three hours apart. They weren't going to be able to see each other every day anymore. Riley hadn't taken a moment to realize that if she were to go to Cornell, Maya wouldn't come with her, whether she had gotten the job at the middle school or not. It was silly of her to cry though because the two friends would probably talk to each other every day through text, phone call or Skype.

"I'm so happy for you." Riley said in a choked up voice and the tears started to fall freely.

"Oh, peaches." Maya said in an equally warbled voice. She rounded the counter and grabbed her best friend in a fierce hug. Riley hugged back and they cried. They tried to reassure each other they would still talk and text and Riley would come to visit Maya in New York as often as she could and Maya would come visit her too. They only stopped hugging when the oven beeped, letting them know it was now at the desired temperature. Riley inserted the easy bake meals and set the timer.

The two friends didn't speak for the remainder of the night. A new emotion overtook them and they didn't know how to feel about it yet. All they knew was they were going to miss each other terribly when the time finally came.

* * *

When Riley woke up the next morning, Maya had already left for work. It was like she had moved out already. Maya was always easy to live with because she never had much with her. That's not to say she couldn't afford it now, she just always preferred to live with the essentials and nothing else. A majority of the items in their apartment were Riley's.

Riley begrudgingly got out of her bed and made her way to the bathroom to get ready for the day. She hoped she would have a good and exciting day at her internship because that might help distract her from Maya. She hoped Maya had taught her how to put on a brave face well enough she could fool her co-workers. She hated being genuinely upset and people always asking her what was wrong. She knew they were just trying to make sure she was all right, but it was pretty annoying the twenty- seventh time or so.

Riley finished dressing up in her lawyer suit and left her apartment. As she closed the door behind her and locked it, Lucas stepped out of his apartment in his veterinarian scrubs, no doubt ready for his day on the internship. Riley was so consumed in thinking about Maya and how the inseparable friends were now moving three hours away from each other, she almost completely forgot that Lucas was going to be coming to Cornell with her. It made her feel a little better about everything but Lucas wasn't Maya. She loved them both but would never be able to chose between them or live without either of them.

"Hey, Riles." Lucas said, cheerfully. Unless his video game experimentation with Farkle had gone horribly wrong, Lucas had had a pretty good day yesterday. "I sent and email to Cornell last night telling them I was going…"

Lucas trailed off as he finally got a good look at her. She looked normal expect her eyes were staring blankly at the floor and she looked like she was about three seconds away from bursting into tears.

"What's wrong?" Lucas asked. He knew she was upset and he would fight with her until she admitted what was bothering her.

"I should probably send mine too." Riley said. "To Cornell I mean."

She finally looked at him with glassy eyes. She had been crying, he could tell easily now.

"Riley," Lucas repeated a little firmer this time. "What's wrong?"

Riley took a heavy sigh. She knew Lucas was going fight with this until she told him what was bothering her. She figured she should just tell him. He would understand and he would figure it out eventually.

"Maya got a job yesterday." Riley said.

"That doesn't sound like bad news." Lucas replied.

"It's not." Riley stated, honestly. "I'm truly happy for her. It's just…"

"It's not anywhere near Cornell, is it?" Lucas asked, knowingly.

"No," Riley said. "It's not like it's across the country either but I've always had Maya close to me for as long as I can remember and I've lived with her for the past four years. There hasn't been a day in my life I've haven't seen her or hugged her and now I'm not going to be able to do that."

Lucas sighed as he looked at Riley. He understood her pain because he felt the same way about having to leave his best friend Zay back in Texas. Lucas rarely ever saw Zay anymore but they still talked as often as they could. He didn't consider Zay his best friend anymore and Lucas was sure Zay didn't think of Lucas like that anymore either but they were still friends.

Lucas enveloped Riley in a hug before he spoke.

"You know this doesn't mean the friendship is over, right?" Lucas asked.

"I know." Riley said because she really did know. She doubted she and Maya would stop being friends just because there was now a few hours of distance between them. She loved Maya and would do anything for her and she knew the feeling was mutual. "There's just something to be said about seeing a person every day. Look at us. We could have started a relationship freshman year but that probably would have been doomed to fail. We waited until we were together before we did anything."

Lucas nodded because he couldn't help but agree. It was always easier to stay close to somebody when you lived in the same city, despite the recent leaps and bounds in technology. There was something about being able to talk to somebody in person that could not be replaced or replicated through a computer or cell phone screen.

"Do you want to go to Topanga's?" Lucas asked. "I have about two hours before I have to be in."

"I was going to try to go to work early to get my mind off of this but I guess it's better if I talk about it, right?" Riley asked.

"Yeah." Lucas agreed. "I think that's probably a good idea."

The two joined hands and walked out of the apartment complex and to their favorite hangout. They arrived a short moment later before they got some coffee and took a seat at their favorite spot of the cafe.

Riley wished she could talk more about this whole situation but she didn't really know how to approach the subject and she could tell Lucas didn't either. Maybe it was too early for their brains to be functioning properly.

"So…" Lucas finally started. "Is Maya just going to stay in your apartment or…"

"No," Riley answered. "She's moving in with Josh."

"Huh." Lucas said. "Do you think that's scary? Moving in with your… significant other?"

"I don't know." Riley answered, honestly. "I think it's a good move for them. They're probably going to get married one day anyway. Why not live together now? Besides, Josh has a reall nice apartment."

Lucas nodded again before he asked his next question. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Riley asked, confused.

Lucas took a deep breath before he continued. "How would you feel if you lived with your boyfriend?"

Suddenly, it all hit Riley at once. "You're… you're asking me to move in with you?"

"Yeah," Lucas said as he let a big grin stretch across his face. "I mean, I was just thinking that it would make sense, you know? We know each other pretty well and you spend a lot of nights at my place and I stay at yours sometimes so we know each other an each other's schedules. We don't really know anybody else going there so we'd probably have to fill out that questionnaire that would match us with a roommate that we would hate and we'd run to each other and complain about it and then we'd fall asleep at each other's place so we'd kind of be living together anyway."

Riley was a bit taken aback by his proposal. Lucas seemed very serious about this though. She looked down at her hand to see his had somehow found his way into hers and was gently cradling it and rubbing circles around her palm. Riley knew she loved Lucas and she knew she could live with him. Hell, she honestly wanted to spend the rest of her life with him so why would moving in with him be so scary?

Lucas saw what he thought was doubt in her eyes and felt like he should retract the proposition. The last thing he wanted to do was push her into a situation she didn't want to be in.

"Or we could just be neighbors or something like-"

"Lucas?" Riley said, cutting him off. "I would love to move in with you."

Lucas let out a chuckle and sigh of relief at the same time. He gently caressed her cheek then pulled her in for a kiss. Riley was typically not a fan of public affection and would have to swat Lucas away from her when they were in the streets of the city. She also didn't like seeing anybody kiss anybody in public unless it was in a movie or TV show and the kiss fit perfectly into the scene. But now, she really couldn't care less about showing affection. She didn't care if the small gathering of people and workers in the cafe were staring at her and Lucas in disgust because they didn't understand what was going on. She didn't care if she and Lucas were going to be late to their internships today. She didn't care if her father flipped out when they told her family they were going to be living together. All she cared about was Lucas' lips on hers and the fact that in a few months time, they were going to be going to graduate school at the same university living in the same apartment.

"I love you." She said when they backed out of the kiss.

"I love you, too." Lucas replied.

* * *

The room down the hall was empty, Riley knew that but she felt the overwhelming desire to step inside just to confirm it was real. Maybe this was all just a dream. Maybe she had fallen asleep in her father's eighth grade history class as he finally gave the lecture on Belgium 1831. Maybe Maya and her and never lived together in the first place and maybe Maya wasn't going to be teaching at John Quincy Adams Middle School and maybe Riley wasn't going to go to Cornell and live with Lucas Friar. Maybe Farkle wasn't going to go back to Boston to get his graduate degree from MIT. Riley felt if she walked into that room and saw nothing then nothing was going to be the same.

The room was empty and Maya was gone. She and Josh had left a couple of hours ago. Riley had helped Maya move her things into a moving van so Riley knew she was gone but it almost felt surreal. It almost didn't feel right for Maya to leave just yet. Lucas was leaving next week to return to Texas for his graduation and then he and Riley would move to their new apartment. Riley was going to stay with her parents and as much as she loved them, she felt like she needed Lucas at a time like this. She honestly needed Maya more but they both knew not seeing each other everyday even though they were going to be in the same city for the next few weeks.

Riley felt a pair of strong arms come up behind her and gently rub her shoulders. She instantly felt a little better but a hug certainly wasn't going to solve everything.

"Hey," She heard Lucas say from behind her.

"Hi," Riley replied as she leaned her head back into his chest. He continued rubbing her shoulders and arms then leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"Thanks for making me feel better." Riley said to him.

"No problem, roomie." Lucas replied and Riley chuckled quietly as he tried to lighten the situation.

Riley turned around to face Lucas. He was about to hug her when she spoke.

"I can't believe she really left." Riley said.

"It's not forever though." Lucas stated. "You'll be in the same city with her for the next couple of weeks anyway."

"I know." Riley sighed.

Lucas played with a strand of Riley's hair for a few moments, trying to comfort her before he realized he would have to go to the airport to catch his flight home soon.

"I have to go soon." Lucas said. "Will you come see me off?"

"Absolutely." Riley replied as she gave him a gentle peck on the lips.

The couple locked hands as they caught a taxi that took them to the airport. Once they arrived and Riley could not go any further, she gave Lucas a big kiss full of as much passion and love as she could muster.

"I'll see you soon, yeah?" Lucas replied when they pulled away.

"Yeah." Riley said. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Lucas said before giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

Riley watched Lucas leave until she couldn't see him anymore. She then found her way back to her parent's apartment and fell asleep in her childhood bedroom thinking of the amazing moments she had as Maya's roommate and the amazing moments she will have as Lucas' roommate.

* * *

 **AN: Hey guys! Sorry it took so long for me to update! School's been kind of crazy but it's labor day weekend so I have time to do this now! I hope you guys really liked this chapter!**

 **I think next time we are going to follow Lucas back to Texas to see how his home life is. I am not at all affiliated with GMW or the GMW Writers so what I write next time is more than likely not going to line up with the upcoming episode, Girl Meets Texas. I seriously doubt it will because I think it will get pretty intense.**

 **Follow, favorite and review!**


	9. Unexpected Grief- Part 1

Lucas flew back home with many mixed emotions. He always loved returning to Texas. There was something about the atmosphere that was different from New York and could never be replicated anywhere else. He was also thrilled to finally be graduating from college since this had been a long time coming. It also meant he was one day closer from moving forward in his life with Riley.

The only part he was really dreading was seeing his family. He knew they loved him and supported him, they just had an interesting way of showing it. His Pappy Joe had warned him that his father was angry and stressed beyond anything he had ever seen. His mother was also hot headed and tried to fight back with his father when she was there. More often then not, she would lose the battle and take it out on Lucas. She never hit him or anything, she just yelled and shouted at him for no reason. Lucas loved his extended family and always enjoyed seeing them, it was just his parents he didn't really enjoy. All and all, he hoped this would be a good trip.

When Lucas landed, he wasn't surprised to see nobody had come to pick him up. This wasn't anything out of the ordinary so he decided to grab his luggage and take a taxi to his Uncle Bobby's house. His uncle lived in the city so Lucas didn't have to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere like he would have if he had gone straight to his parents' home and his uncle was much more calm than the both of his parents. Lucas didn't really know his uncle all that well in his early years but once he got to know him, he seemed like a pretty level headed guy. However, Lucas later found out that this wasn't the truth. His uncle used to be just as angry as his father was until a ray of sunshine by the name of Sandy came and changed him for the better. He and Sandy were now married and had two children. Lucas couldn't help but notice the similarities between his uncle and his aunt and Riley and himself. He hoped they would have the happily ever after his aunt and uncle did one day. He knew he needed Riley in his life or else he could easily slip back into that person he was before.

Lucas arrived at his uncle's home about half an hour after flagging down a taxi. He was probably the best at that in the whole state since he spent half his time in New York City, the taxi capital of the world. He unloaded his bags and paid the driver before walking up to his uncle's picture perfect home and ringing the doorbell.

"Lucas!" His uncle exclaimed after he answered the door. "How are you, my boy?"

"I'm doing great, Uncle Bobby." Lucas replied as he moved inside of the house. "How about you guys?"

"Oh, just the same as when you last saw us." Bobby replied. "I'm still working at the farm and Sandy's helping when she isn't working as a nurse at the hospital. That woman is amazing, I tell you."

He went on to talk about his wife and his daughter Hannah, who had recently started high school and was already the star of the freshman volleyball team. Lucas had only seen her play once when she was in middle school but he would be shocked if she didn't get a scholarship of some kind to play volleyball in college. It seemed Hannah had inherited the Friar athletic genes. His son, Kyle, had started middle school in the fall. Lucas stopped paying attention after that because he couldn't believe his cousin was already in middle school. He also couldn't help but think about his first day of middle school. That also happened to be one of his first days in New York. It was the day he met Riley. He couldn't help it, he just always blanked out when he thought of her.

He talked with his Aunt Sandy and Hannah and Kyle for a little while after he arrived but they didn't tell him anything Bobby hadn't already squeezed in between his walk from the front door to the back porch. Lucas could tell Bobby really loved his family and he hoped he loved his at least half as much as Bobby did one day.

"So, Lucas," Bobby started after Lucas finished telling him a story about trying to teach Farkle how to be an athlete in middle school. "We were thinking that we'd head over to the farm in about an hour or so for dinner. I hear your mother is cooking up something mighty fine."

Lucas swallowed a large lump that suddenly appeared in his throat. His mother was a great cook but he just dreaded having to see his parent's again. He hated that he felt that way and wished that he missed them and thought of them everyday he was in College Station or New York but he didn't feel that way at all. He thought about them a few times and had a few good conversations with his mother on her phone but he hadn't had a good conversation with his father since… well, Lucas couldn't even remember when. He felt bad that that was how things were because he loved Mr. Matthews and all of his other friends' fathers that he had met and enjoyed witnessing their relationships together. He wanted to be a father himself one day but was always a little hesitant because he didn't have a good role model growing up. He just figured he'd have to pick up the pieces when the time came and figure it out on his own and with Riley… or whoever the mother of his children would be.

Instead of explaining his hatred for his parents to his uncle, aunt and two young and vulnerable cousins, he just nodded and said that sounded good before excusing himself to the kitchen and grabbing a cup of water. It didn't take too long for his Aunt Sandy to come in after him. She always had a maternal sense that told her when somebody wasn't feeling well, even when that somebody wasn't one of her own children. She was also nearly as stubborn as Riley so Lucas couldn't lie to her even if he wanted to. She would just see straight through it and demand she tell him the truth.

"Hey, sugar pie," she said as she stepped into the kitchen. Aunt Sandy always called Lucas sugar pie when something bad was happening between his parents or she could sense something was wrong with him. "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah," Lucas responded. "Just the usual."

"Ah," Sandy replied in understanding as she sat across from him at the island. Instead of speaking up she waited for him to talk.

"I don't want to hate them." Lucas said. "I hate that I do and I hate that I feel the need to come running here every time I'm about to loose it. I hate that they can get into my head so easily."

"I know you do." Sandy said. "But to tell you the truth, I can't blame you too much for hating them. I love your parents but I don't think they were made to be parents."

"You're probably right." Lucas said.

"Now that's not to say that you shouldn't be here because you are a fine young man, Lucas." Sandy said. "And besides that little incident you had in school, you've been nothing short of incredible."

"Thanks, Aunt Sandy." Lucas said.

"I mean it." Aunt Sandy replied.

"I know you do." Lucas said. "I just wish I could believe it."

Sandy and Lucas made their way back outside where, luckily, his parents were never brought up again.

"So, Lucas," his uncle asked. "I find it pretty hard to believe that a boy like you hasn't found a girl, especially in the big city of New York."

Lucas laughed uncomfortably at his uncle as his aunt chipped in too.

"Yeah, I would find that hard to believe." Sandy said. "Why, if I was your age and wasn't married, I'd be falling head over heels for a guy like you."

Lucas laughed again as Bobby playfully chided his wife and their children groaned at the image of their mother flirting with anybody.

"I've had a few offers," Lucas replied, knowing the conversation wasn't going to drop so easily. "But I've been holding out for somebody special."

"And have you found that somebody special?" Sandy continued to prod, jokingly.

"I think I have." Lucas replied, silencing all the laughter in a matter of seconds. "I mean, I don't know if she's the one but she's special all right."

"Oh," Bobby replied, leaning down so he could rest his elbows on his knees. "And what is this special girl's name?"

"Riley," Lucas said as an involuntary smile came across his face. "Riley Matthews. I met her in New York right before my first day of middle school. I was riding on the subway when this girl fell into my lap."

"My, how on earth did she fall into your lap?" Sandy asked, surprised. Lucas chuckled lightly as he remembered the largest city any of his family had ever visited was Houston. That was still a big city but they didn't have subway systems like New York did.

"Well, the subway halted pretty quickly and she was standing up so she didn't have time to catch her balance." Lucas said. "So she fell on me."

"Well, I didn't know that you liked a girl for that long." Bobby said.

"I didn't." Lucas said. "It wasn't immediate but I realized I liked her once we started college but she was going to NYU and I was still at A&M so we figured it wouldn't be a good idea to start a relationship long distance."

"Is that why you went back to New York for your internship?" Sandy asked.

"It was part of it." Lucas said. "I have other friends in New York that I missed."

"What does Riley do now that you've both graduated?" Bobby asked.

"She's going to law school at Cornell." Lucas replied.

"Oh, a smart one!" Sandy exclaimed.

"Yeah," Lucas said in a quieter tone. "She's brilliant."

Lucas didn't realize that he had fallen into a trance of Riley until he looked up to see his aunt and uncle staring at him with weird faces.

"What?" Lucas asked.

The married couple stared at each other for a quick moment before turning back to Lucas.

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about." Sandy assured him. "But we better get going if we are going to get to your parents' on time. I'll go get the kids."

Lucas didn't even realize that Hannah and Kyle and left the porch. Weren't they there just a moment ago? How long was he thinking about Riley?

"I'm very happy for you, Lucas." Bobby said once it was just the two men on the porch. "It sounds like you are building a nice life for yourself."

"Yeah, I'm happy with it so far." Lucas replied.

"I'm not too knowledgeable about the veterinarian stuff, but I assume to get a decent job, you have to have more than an undergrad degree, right?"

"Yes, I'm going to graduate school next fall." Lucas replied.

"Oh, where are you going to school?" Bobby asked.

"I'm going to Cornell." Lucas said.

"Ah, so you're going with the girlfriend?" Bobby chided before getting serious. "Does your dad know?"

"No," Lucas responded, immediately. "And I don't want him to. Not about Cornell and not about Riley."

Bobby sighed to himself and Lucas realized he just said some terrible things about his father to his father's own brother. He couldn't say that he understood that bond but he doubted he could say anything terrible about Auggie to Riley without her getting upset.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I-"

"Lucas," Bobby started. "I know my brother hasn't always been the best father in the world but he is your father. I think he deserves to know what you are up to."

"I know." Lucas said. "But I don't think I could handle telling him about both Riley and Cornell in the same day. He's not going to be happy with either of them. Can you please just bring up one tonight if you are going to?"

"I suppose there's always tomorrow." Bobby said.

"Thank you so much, Uncle Bobby." Lucas sighed in relief.

"No problem, kid." Bobby said as he patted Lucas on the back.

"I talked to Pappy Joe on the phone the other day and he said dad's gotten pretty bad." Lucas said, hoping his uncle could elaborate, although Lucas didn't know how much he could handle at this moment.

"I don't know what's going on at his work place but unfortunately, Pappy Joe is right." Bobby said. "I've never seen him this upset. I'm sure he'll hold his tongue for you though, Lucas. I know I would for my son."

"Thanks, Uncle Bobby." Lucas replied. "I hope you're right."

Soon, the five of them were piled in the family's pickup truck and headed to the farm Lucas grew up on. The drive was only about twenty minutes long but to Lucas, it felt like they got there in twenty seconds. He was cherishing the last moments he had with the best of his family before chaos erupted. The five Friars stepped out of the car and on to the dirt driveway that lead up to Lucas' house and he could already hear his father's shouts from inside.

They let themselves in the house and his father didn't even acknowledge Lucas. He was on his cell phone yelling at somebody when they entered. Instead of pushing the situation, which would surely lead to their deaths, they decided to head to the kitchen where Lucas' mom was preparing the dinner. Her hair was frizzy, she looked tired and pissed. Lucas could tell she was arguing with his father a moment ago.

"Hey, mom," Lucas spoke up first. His mother turned around to face him and attempted to put a smile on her face before coming over to give him a side hug and kiss his cheek before she returned to her cooking. She clearly didn't want to be bothered with anybody or anything right now.

Lucas took this as an opportunity to sneak out to the barn and see the horses. They had become the only part of this place that Lucas enjoyed. He hadn't seen them since the fall when he came back to work at the ranch.

Sofia was as beautiful as ever with her brown mane and spotted fur. Her palomino, Paula, had grown up before Lucas' eyes. It took him a moment to realize that she was the same age her mother was when she had her. It didn't take but one look to see that Paula was now pregnant and Lucas had never felt so old in his life. He thought about taking none for a spin but thought better of it since they were going to eat soon. His family was going to be mad enough at him for going this far off of the property.

"Well, well, well, look who finally came back to the farm." Lucas heard from the entrance of the stable. He didn't even have to look to know who it was.

"Zay." Lucas said as he clapped his friend on the back. Zay had been working at the farm for about the same time Lucas had and he had also worked here over the summer. Zay had chosen to go to school at the University of Texas and was a sports management major. Lucas knew Zay wasn't as into animals as he was but he also knew Zay really did enjoy working at the farm with him.

"How have you been, buddy?" Zay asked him when the backed away.

"I've been pretty good." Lucas said. "Excited for graduation and the things after that."

"Yeah, me too." Zay said. "I meant to tell you, I'll be going to grad school at the University of Texas in the fall."

"That's great, Zay. Congratulations." Lucas replied.

"Thanks, man." Zay said. "Any plans for you?"

"Yeah, well I actually got accepted to veterinarian school at Cornell." Lucas said.

"Wow, that's awesome." Zay said with a weird look on his face that Lucas couldn't quite understand. Was Zay sad, angry or upset? He really didn't know.

"What's wrong?" Lucas asked.

"Oh it's nothing," Zay replied. "I'm really happy for you but how to you think your dad's going to take it?"

"Not well, I'm assuming." Lucas replied. "I already told my Uncle Bobby so he'll probably tell my dad."

"Why don't you want to hang out with him anymore?" Zay asked.

"I just don't want to be like him." Lucas replied. "He's always angry, apparently even more so now. I don't want my friends and family to be afraid to tell me things, even if I disagree with them. I used to be that way and I think the best thing I can do is just stay away from him."

Zay nodded before Lucas heard his Aunt Sandy calling his name from afar. It must be time to eat.

"I have to go eat dinner now," Lucas told his friend. "It was great to see you again, Zay. We should catch up while I'm here."

"Most definitely." Zay responded. "I'll see you around, man."

"See you." Lucas said as he exited the barn.

Lucas joined the table and sat in his spot in the middle of the table with his cousins on either side of him, his aunt and uncle across from him, his mother at one end of the table and his father's empty chair at the other. He could still hear his dad yelling into the phone on the other side of the room. Lucas didn't understand how somebody that stressed could still be alive and healthy.

About twenty minutes into the meal, Lucas' father came to the dinner table, his skin still a bright shade of red and his teeth were clenched together. The playfully atmosphere dropped quickly once his father had joined the table. Eventually, his normal skin color started to come back and he looked a little more calm.

"Well, I for one am excited about Lucas' graduation!" Uncle Booby proclaimed while raising his glass as a toast. "To Lucas, I hope nothing but success comes your way."

Everybody at the table, even his mother and father, lifted their glasses and toasted to him. It was the lightest Lucas had felt all day.

"Thanks, everybody." Lucas said as he took a sip of his own drink.

"And nothing but success will come his way if he goes to the greatest university in the world, the University of Texas." His father exclaimed.

Lucas wanted nothing more than to groan. Not that he had anything against Texas, they just didn't have anywhere near the veterinarian program Cornell did. Instead he just nodded but caught his uncle's eye as he looked down at his food. It seemed his uncle was trying to convince him to tell his father the truth. After a short moment of silence, Lucas took the bait.

"Actually, dad," Lucas started after clearing his throat. "I don't think I'm going to go to the University of Texas."

"Why not?" His father asked. Lucas could tell he was trying to stay calm but there was no going back now. His father was going to find out eventually."Isaiah Babineaux is going to the University of Texas. I thought you'd want to go with him."

"Dad, Zay and I haven't gone to school together since middle school. We didn't even get our undergrads together."

"Okay, well if you're not going to Texas, what do you plan to do?" His father asked.

"Well, I actually got accepted into Cornell University." Lucas said as his father let out a groan and fell back on his chair. "It's one of the best veterinarian schools in the country and I think it would be silly to turn it down for Texas."

"Cornell's in New York, isn't it?" His father asked. Lucas nodded in response. "Lucas, don't you remember how much you hated New York when you were in high school? How you called begging to come here for the weekends?"

"I was in high school then, dad!" Lucas exclaimed. "A lot of things have changed since high school and in case you forgot, I've been living in the city since December and this is the first time I have flown back since!"

"Are you telling me that you are going to end four generations of Friars in the University of Texas for Cornell?!" His father exclaimed.

"Yes!" Lucas shot back.

Everything that happened next was a blur. One moment, his father is getting ready to yell something back at him, the next everybody in his family is running around the house, except his father who lies motionless on the floor…

* * *

 **AN: Hey guys! I'm so so sorry for not updating in such a long time! I will finish this story I promise! It's just school has been kicking my but and I've had a bit of writers block when it came to this chapter.**

 **Anyway, I hope I can put up the second part of this chapter later today or tomorrow because I don't want to leave a cliffhanger like that for a couple of weeks.**

 **Also, I'm so excited for Girl Meets Rileytown. I've seen some clips but not the full episode, however it looks really good! And Girl Meets Texas is going to be the death of me.**

 **Anyway, follow, favorite and review!**


	10. Unexpected Grief- Part 2

The ambulance arrived at their home pretty quickly. Lucas couldn't tell you who had called 911, only that it couldn't have been him. He really wasn't aware of anything until about two minutes before the paramedics came into the house, or at least that's what it felt like. Lucas was currently riding to the hospital in his aunt's car with his cousins. They had asked if he wanted to ride in the ambulance but he said no and chose to ride behind them on the way to the hospital.

Part of the reason Lucas chose not to ride in the ambulance was because he felt that his uncle and mother cared more for his father than he did, even if they weren't as close as most brothers were or they were divorced. Lucas hadn't wanted to see his father in a long time and had given up hope of having a good relationship with his dad a long time ago. His uncle still believed that his father could be a good person and probably had more good memories of him than bad. Even though she probably wouldn't admit it, his mother still had hope too. They deserved to ride with him.

The other reason was Lucas, like most children, saw their father as a strong, almost invincible man. It hurt him to see somebody that strong, that invincible, that passionate lying helpless on the floor. It was image in his mind he wanted to burn but he knew would be stuck there forever and would haunt his nightmares for a long time after this. In the ambulance, he would be lying in a bed and Lucas might be able to tell himself that his father was just sleeping but who sleeps with that many tubes sticking out of your body? No one that's strong and healthy that's for sure.

They arrived at the hospital and his father was taken straight to a room in intensive care. That scared Lucas more than anything. He had a silver of hope he might go into the emergency room but the fact they took him straight to intensive care said a lot.

The family was waiting the the waiting room for the doctor's to come out and tell them the news. Aunt Sandy stepped out to call other family members and inform them of the situation as best as she could. By the time the doctors came out, almost an hour later, Pappy Joe as well as Lucas' older cousins had arrived and a few family members were still on their way.

"Mr. Friar has had a heart attack." the doctor informed them. "He is alert and awake now but we would like to keep him in the unit for a few more days at least to make sure he continues to get better."

All Lucas could do was nod at the doctor. He was trying to process how a man as young as his own dad could have had a heart attack. Then again, his dad was beyond stressed at work and there was hardly a moment he wasn't yelling. Hell, he was yelling right before he had his heart attack…

He was yelling at Lucas.

The thought of turning down Cornell to go to the University of Texas and leave Riley behind just because his father cheated death yelling at him about it never crossed Lucas' mind. However, he couldn't help but think that he had something to do with causing it. If he had just kept everything about Cornell and Riley to himself, his father never would have yelled at him and he never would have had a heart attack.

Lucas realized he zoned out again because when he turned around, he saw he was the only one standing up. His mother was sitting in a chair closest to where the doctor reentered, his cousins were sitting in the back of the room playing a game on their phones and his aunt was sitting in between the both, looking sad but not lost. Lucas figured he could get the most out of talking to her.

"Hey, sugar pie." She said as he took a seat next to her.

"Hey, Aunt Sandy." Lucas said. "Where's Pappy Joe and Uncle Bobby."

"Oh, you're father asked to see them first." She said. "Weren't you paying attention when the doctor came out?"

"Sort of." Lucas said. "I know he had a heart attack but I've been finding it hard to pay attention to anything since it started."

"That's normal." Sandy said. "It happens all the time."

Lucas was thankful that this wasn't a weird thing he was experiencing. He trusted his Aunt Sandy since she dealt with this stuff all the time.

"It's my fault." Lucas said and he felt like a huge weight was lifted off of his chest just by saying that out loud.

"What was that, sugar pie?" Sandy asked.

"It's my fault that he's here." Lucas said. "He wouldn't be here if he wasn't yelling at me. He wouldn't be here if I didn't bring up Cornell."

"Oh, you don't know that sugar pie." Sandy said as she brought him closer to her. "He is a very, very stressed and angry man. He would have had one if you had been here or not, I promise."

"You think?" Lucas said.

"I know," Sandy replied. "Please don't blame yourself on this. You're a good, smart boy Lucas and I'd hate to see you give up an amazing opportunity just because your father doesn't necessarily agree with you."

"I won't," Lucas said. "Or I'll try not to."

"Good," Sandy said as she placed a loving kiss on his forehead. "Do you mind if I give you a little piece of advice?"

"Please." Lucas pleaded. He really needed any wisdom he could get right now.

"Over my years as a nurse, I have found that friends and family of patients in similar situations that your father is currently in, find the most comfort when they talk to somebody they really love." She said. "What was that special girl's name again?"

Riley. Lucas hadn't thought about her in such a long time. He was supposed to call when he landed but he had forgotten. Hopefully she wasn't too worried. Lucas checked his phone and saw that it was almost eleven o'clock which made it nine o'clock in New York. When did it get so late? He also knew that Riley was having her graduation ceremony tonight but that should be over now. She was supposed to have a small get together with her family and Maya so it's not like she would be partying or drinking very much but she would probably still be awake. Lucas decided to take his aunt's advice and go call Riley.

"Riley." Lucas replied. "Thanks, Aunt Sandy."

"No problem, Lucas."

Lucas stepped out into a hallway that he had come into when he first arrived. He pulled out his phone and began to call Riley. He hoped she hadn't misplaced her phone, or was by some unfortunate miracle still at graduation or anything else that would result in him not being able to talk to her. However, his silent prayers were answered when he heard the voice of an angel come through on the other line.

"Hey," Riley said as the ringing stopped.

"Hi." Lucas responded. "Do you have a minute to talk?"

"Yeah, just let me go to my room real quick."

Lucas waited for a moment before Riley said "Okay, I'm good now. How's Texas?"

"Um, interesting." Lucas decided to say. "Was graduation all right?"

"Yeah." Riley answered. "It was great! It was a little long but we got done like an hour ago."

"I'm happy to hear that." Lucas said. "How's the party?"

"I wouldn't call it much of a party." Riley said.

"Are you not having fun?" He asked.

"No, I am." Riley replied. "It's just my family and Maya's. Not enough people to call it a party, if you ask me."

"Ah, okay." Lucas said. "Well, I'm glad you had a good day."

"Yeah, me too." Riley said. "What about you?"

Lucas took a deep sigh before he answered her. "It's been all right." He said. "I, um, went to visit my aunt and uncle first and then they drove me to my parents' house and I'm uh, I'm just outside of the ICU right now so it's been a hell of a day."

"ICU?!" Lucas heard Riley exclaim from the other line. "What are you doing at the ICU?! Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Do you need me to fly down?"

"No, no, Riley I'm fine." Lucas said before sighing again. "My dad had a heart attack."

"Oh, my god, is he okay?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Lucas said. "The doctor said he was awake and he's talking to some family now. I haven't seen him yet, though."

"This might seem like a dumb question but are you all right?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Lucas said. "I'm great, considering."

"Yeah," Riley said. "Well, call me when you have any updates. I hope he gets better. I'd love to meet him one day."

Lucas smiled and couldn't help but feel teary eyed for the first time that day. He wasn't worried his father was going to die, he was awake now anyway so he doubted anything was going to happen to him. He was just amazed by Riley yet again. He was amazed that Riley still had faith that his father would be a good person when she had really only heard bad things about him. He was amazed at her optimism and hoped that it would live forever.

"I'm sure he'd like that." Lucas said.

"Mr. Friar?" Lucas heard a voice from behind him. He turned around to see a female nurse. "Your father would like to speak to you, if that's all right."

"Yeah," Lucas said before he put his phone back up to his face. "I'll call you back, I think my dad wants to talk to me now."

"Of course." Riley said. "I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah," Lucas replied.

"I love you." Riley said before he got the chance to hang up.

"I love you, too." Lucas said because she had to know even if he came back to New York angry like his old self was, he still loved her.

Lucas hung up the phone and followed the nurse through the waiting room, past the ominous doors and down the hall before turning into the third room on the left where his father lay. The man looked very pale. He had two tubes up his nose like Lucas had seen on people in TV and an IV in his arm. Other than that, he looked like he could have just been lounging in bed and Lucas told himself that's all that was happening.

"Hey, son." His father said in a rough and weak voice.

"Hi, dad." Lucas said as he moved to take the seat by his bed and the nurse left the two of them alone but not before she showed Lucas the emergency button in case anything started to happen.

The two men sat in silence for a while before Lucas' father spoke up.

"I didn't know you interned in New York." he said.

"Yeah, I told you." Lucas replied, trying to be cold but not too cold to his father.

"I'm sure you did." His father replied. "I just wasn't paying attention, as usual."

Lucas could have said something very cold hearted but his father just cheated death moments ago. He doubted (or at least he hoped) he wouldn't be the same man after this.

"How was it? New York I mean." He asked.

"It was good." Lucas said. "I like the city. I didn't like it all that much in high school but I do now."

"That's good." his father said. "You don't have to go to the University of Texas, you know. I hear Cornell's a great school."

"It is." Lucas said. "I haven't been on campus yet but it seems like a nice place."

"Well, as long as you think it's best and you'd be happy there, I'll give you my blessing."

"I will." Lucas said. "Thanks, dad."

"You must have some mighty good friends up there." His dad said.

"What makes you think that?" Lucas asked.

His dad lightly shrugged his left shoulder. "I don't know, you just seem happier. More calm."

"Yeah, I am." Lucas said.

"So do you have good friends or not?" His father pressed.

"Yes, I do." Lucas replied. "I've got some of the best friends I could ever ask for."

"That's good." His father said. "You need good friends."

They were silent for a few moments again. Lucas thought about excusing himself and returning to the waiting room so somebody else could talk to him and so they could end this conversation on a high note. However, his father spoke up before he could even think about standing up.

"What about the girl?" His dad asked.

Lucas let out a soft chuckle. "Did Uncle Bobby tell you?"

"He might have mentioned it." His father said. "What's her name?"

"Riley." Lucas replied as an involuntary smile spread across his face.

"What's she like?" His dad asked.

"She's… beautiful." Lucas said because there just wasn't a word that described how unbelievably gorgeous Riley was and beautiful was the first word that popped into his head. "She's got long, wavy brown hair and big brown eyes. She's five times as beautiful on the inside though. She's a complete ray of sunshine and always sees the best in everybody. I really love her and everything about her."

His dad was smiling up at him with tears in his eyes. This surprised Lucas because his father was not an emotional man. This was the closest he had ever gotten to seeing him cry.

"She sounds wonderful." His dad said. "I'd love to meet her one day."

"Funny, she said the same thing about you." Lucas said.

His father reached a feeble hand up to grab one of Lucas' hands in his own. Like most children, he had held his father's hand many times before but Lucas always remembered his dad's large hand absorbing one of his tiny ones. Now, it was very much reversed.

"I love you, Lucas." His father said. "Even if I didn't always show it, I do and I want nothing but your happiness."

Lucas was about to say thanks but his felt his dad's hand start to violent shake in his own.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Lucas asked.

No response. Suddenly, his father's whole arm was shaking and then his face and his entire body. Lucas pressed the emergency button the nurse had shown him at least twenty times before doctor's came flooding in and rushed him out. Lucas kept demanding to know if his father would be all right and the doctors kept saying we don't know.

Lucas busted through the doors of the ICU and into the waiting room where the rest of his family sat. They were surprised to see him come out of there so fast and with such meaning.

"Lucas?" He heard his Pappy Joe say. "Did something happen?"

"I don't- I don't know." Lucas said. He felt a huge lump in his throat but he felt no tears in his eyes. He needed to talk to somebody he loved unconditionally and although everybody in this room was family, they weren't the people he wanted to talk to right now. There was only one person. He opened up his phone and called her number while stumbling out of the waiting room and away from his family.

"Lucas?" he heard her sweet voice on the other end. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know." He said in a loud and panicked voice. "I was- I was sitting by his bed and I was talking to him and he just started shaking and I-"

Lucas cut himself off when he looked through a window to the ICU waiting room. He saw his family crowded around his father's doctor. The doctor looked very distributed and whatever the news he was was going to deliver was, it was not going to be good.

"Lucas?" He heard Riley say on the other line.

He saw the doctor say something but he didn't know what. His mother fell down into her chair and started crying. His Pappy Joe started rubbing his forehead like he was bothered by something. His cousins looked very solemn and his Uncle Bobby kicked a chair in the waiting room before collapsing into it.

"Lucas?!" Riley called again.

His Aunt Sandy came and sat beside his uncle and tried to console him. Everybody in the waiting room was crying now and it seemed nobody was allowed to go back to where his father was. Lucas knew what happened and his phone slipped out of his hand and onto the cold, tile floor.

"LUCAS?!"

* * *

The funeral was only a few days later. It was solemn and many tears were shed but none of those tears belonged to him. He refused to cry because he thought somebody needed to be strong in this situation. There were times he wanted to cry and times he didn't but no matter what, he never did.

He graduated a few days after that. It was supposed to be a happy occasion and when he was with his friends, it was. When he returned home, he wasn't greeted with any kind of party or mild celebration. It was as sad as it had been when he left. Instead of having a good time with family and friends and maybe opening a present or two, he took off his cap and gown and went to his childhood bedroom for the first time that visit. He had been sleeping over at his aunt and uncle's before since it made his uncle feel better to have Lucas there. Going to his childhood bedroom resulted in the highlight of his trip because he got to see something he hadn't seen in a long time and decided he would take it back with him. It was the horse figurine with the king and the queen on it that Riley had gotten him for Christmas a little over four years ago. He looked at it and thought about that trip to New York. He thought about them running off and going to that art museum and spending the night under the stars. He thought about how he fought so hard to get her away from Dylan. He thought about the night Dylan was arrested and how he and Riley promised each other they would be boyfriend and girlfriend one day. He smiled for the first time since his dad passed away at those memories.

Lucas flew back to New York the following day and was greeted by Riley at the gate. She had offered to fly out to support him during this time but he refused saying it would be a waste of money and he would be home soon anyway. They went straight to her parent's apartment where they would both be living for the next couple of weeks until they found a good apartment off of Cornell's campus. Lucas only left the apartment when he needed to and for most days he wouldn't change out of a t-shirt and sweatpants. He was sad about his father's passing but figured he still didn't know how to cope with it. That is until he talked, or more accurately argued with Riley one night when they were home alone.

"Have you even cried yet, Lucas?" She had asked.

The answer was still no. He realized there was nobody he needed to be strong for here. Not in this situation anyway. He could cry if he wanted to and he would have plenty of support. he wanted to cry so badly and he would spend long periods of time sitting in Riley's bay window willing himself to cry but the flood never came.

That is until one night Lucas had a nightmare, but it was real. It was his father holding his hand in his hospital bed again starting to shake. Lucas went to press the emergency button like he did before but there was no button. There didn't seem to be a single person besides Lucas and his dying father in the entire hospital. Instead Lucas was forced to sit there and watch his father die.

"Lucas!" He heard his name being called and just like that he was awake staring into Riley Matthews' deep brown eyes of concern as she hovered over him.

The dam broke.

Lucas cried for what felt like forever and Riley stayed with him the whole time. He cried like a child in her lap but she only stroked his hair and told him everything was going to be all right. A few times, he thought he heard her voice warble a bit too and he wouldn't doubt it if she had cried too. After he had composed himself, he sat up and kissed her.

"Thank you." He said. She just nodded against him.

"Please don't leave me." He said to her.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

* * *

 **AN: Wow, that got a lot more intense then I thought it ever could. Are we all okay? Will we all be okay? I hope so!**

 **Next chapter will take a complete 180 as Riley and Lucas take a big step in their relationship! You won't want to miss it!**

 **Follow, favorite and review!**


	11. Cold Breakfast

**SMUT WARNING! Just telling you now. :)**

* * *

It was the morning after her first day of school and she was lucky she didn't have a class until the afternoon. It was a bright, sunshine-y morning, just the way she liked it and the sun was shining through her window, making the room that much warmer. It was a morning she would never forget but not because the weather was so beautiful or because it was the morning after her first day at Cornell but because of how she woke up. She, Riley Matthews, had her bare back pressed up against Lucas Friar's naked chest that morning as one of his arms was draped lazily over her waist. The only fabric that existed between them were the sheets and covers of the bed but not the usual barriers their pajamas created. That's right; sweet, innocent Riley Matthews was not so innocent anymore.

She inhaled and wrapped her smaller arms around Lucas' big one until she realized how horrible she smelled. They had worked up quite a sweat last night after all. Riley slowly and gently lifted Lucas' arm off of her and stood up out of the bed. She watched as her boyfriend merely turned over in his sleep with a low grunt. She giggled quietly at him and honestly couldn't tell if he was actually sleeping or if he was awake and was just too exhausted to follow her out of bed. She knew he was a heavy sleeper so it could really be either options.

Riley moved to their shower but not before grabbing a few clothes off of the floor. She didn't feel shy at all around Lucas anymore and she didn't have to worry about Maya, Farkle or her parents accidentally barging in on them but it felt weird just to be walking around her apartment completely naked. She grabbed her pajama shorts that she must have forgotten to put away the night before and Lucas' baby blue button down he had worn last night.

While she was in the shower, Riley thought about how she had lost her title of Riley the Virgin and how she couldn't think of a single moment she regretted.

* * *

"Are you done yet?" An impatient Lucas Friar asked. He wasn't mad at her, he was just bored.

"Almost," Riley responded. "One more paragraph."

It was their first day of graduate school at Cornell University and they already had loads of homework. Today they had decided to check out the university library and get some studying done. Lucas had read and taken notes on five chapters from his textbook and Riley had to finish seven. It had taken them both a long time to get done but Lucas had been sitting across from Riley like an impatient child for about twenty minutes now.

"And… finished!" Riley said as she put the period on her last sentence. "We can go now."

Lucas let out a low sigh and Riley chuckled at him. The couple started to put all of their things in their bags before they left the library and began the walk to their car. They had been on campus all day and parking was an absolute nightmare when they had arrived so they had a spot all the way on the other side of campus. It was late at night and if Riley wasn't walking with Lucas she would feel a little worried but she knew he would protect her.

"So, are you enjoying school so far?" Lucas asked her. They hadn't really had a chance to talk all day since they had some classes and their lunch breaks didn't aline. Tomorrow would be better though because they each only had one class in the late afternoon.

"I love it." Riley said. "It's going to be a lot of work but I'm looking forward to it. How about you?"

"Same, I guess." Lucas replied. "There's going to be a lot of hard work to do and I guess I feel the need to prove myself since I was put on the wait list but it'll all be worth in in the long run. I'm just thrilled I get to wake up to your smiling face everyday."

"I'm not sure how much I'll be smiling around mid-terms and finals though." Riley joked, although she knew she was going to be super stressed out when that time came. There wasn't much that could take down smiley Riley. "I'm thrilled I get to see your face everyday, too."

The couple leaned in for a quick peck on the lips and then locked their hands once they backed away. Riley enjoyed feeling the warmth of his hand encompass hers. For whatever reason, Lucas was always warm, even on a cold September night like this one. It wasn't until he held her hand that she realized how cold she was with just her light jacket on. She made a mental notes to wear a warmer one tomorrow. Riley tried to walk back to their car without letting Lucas know she was cold. She knew he'd just give her his jacket and she didn't want to inconvenience him like that. It wasn't like she was about to get frostbite anyway, she could make it back to the car.

"Are you cold?" Lucas asked her a few seconds later. Riley sighed, knowing she had given herself away. She hoped she could muster up enough warmth to fool him.

"N-no." Riley replied as her teeth chattered. Lucas just chuckled at her and unlocked their hands to take off his coat and drape it over her shoulders.

"You didn't have to do that, you know." Riley said.

"I know," he replied. "But I don't mind. I'm not that cold."

"What are you talking about Lucas?" Riley asked. "It's got to be around forty degrees outside and all you are wearing is a long sleeved shirt.

Riley took a quick moment to admire his baby blue button down shirt that was a bit fitted on him. It showed off all his muscles she already knew about but she didn't mind being reminded of how incredibly handsome her boyfriend was. It was in this moment she knew she felt… different.

"Riley?" Lucas asked as he waved a hand in front of her face. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing, sorry I zoned out." Riley said. "What did you say?"

Lucas chuckled lightly before he answered.

"I said can't you just say thank you?"

"Oh, yeah." Riley said, shyly as she looked away. "Thanks."

"Hey, are you okay?" Lucas asked, now genuinely concerned. Great, now she felt bad about admiring her boyfriend. Was it really her fault he was so damn gorgeous?

"Yeah," Riley said, trying to brush it off. "I'm totally fine."

"Really?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, it's just I think you look really good in that shirt." Riley said while looking at the ground.

"Oh," Lucas said in understanding. She wasn't upset, she was just embarrassed. He figured he should level the playing field.

"Well, I think you look really good in those jeans." Lucas said, referring to Riley's denim skinny jeans that he really did enjoy.

"Really?" Riley chuckled.

"Yeah," Lucas said. "Why do you think I've been holding the door for you all day?"

"I thought it was just to be a gentleman." Riley replied with one eyebrow raised.

"A bit, sure." Lucas said before leaning down to kiss her. They remained locked in this kiss a little longer than the previous peck but not so long they lost track of time. When they backed away, they looked into each other's eyes and they just knew. They were on their way home from the library and Lucas had given Riley his jacket because she got cold. It was such a small gesture but suddenly they knew things would never be the same.

Lucas was still holding onto Riley around the small of her back and she had her hands resting on his arms. They were smiling and probably looked goofy and oh so cheesy and romantic but Lucas couldn't be bothered to care. He could tell Riley felt the same way.

"So, um…" Riley started as she thought about how she wanted to word this. "Those things we bought at the store the other day that you said we needed but I said were a waste. Well, I hate to admit this but I think you are right."

Lucas raised his eyebrow as if he didn't believe the words that had fallen out of Riley's mouth. She also said it with such a seductive tone that wasn't the Riley he knew but a Riley he could just as easily fall in love with. He knew exactly what item she was talking about too. It was the condoms. There wasn't much arguing over the bread they bought. Lucas said they should buy them just in case the moment was just right. He tried to make the case that it would completely ruin the moment if he had to leave to go get them and then come back. He loved Riley and all, but he didn't want to risk getting her pregnant. The timing would be all off and he wasn't naive enough to think that not using it one time would be fine. That could be the one time he would regret for the rest of his life and he certainly didn't want his first time to be a time he regretted.

"Are- are you sure?" Lucas stuttered. Was this real? This was all happening?

"I've never been more sure of anything." Riley said in that same seductive tone and Lucas could no longer keep his lips off of hers. God, he was sure she could get him to do anything with that voice.

"I love you." He said when he backed away.

"I love you, too." Riley replied.

The pair raced to the car before Lucas started the engine and took off towards their apartment. He didn't drive like a manic but he did go a little faster than usual and Riley couldn't be bothered to care.

When they entered the apartment, Lucas went straight to the bathroom to retrieve a condom and then joined Riley in their bedroom. They took their time, starting with simple kisses on the lips, moving down to each other's necks and chests. When clothes got in the way, they simply took them off and tossed them aside. Finally, when the time came, Lucas slipped on the condom and they became one for the first time.

* * *

It had been the best night of Riley's young life. She was a bit sore from the activities and it wasn't immediately pleasing to her but she had eventually come to enjoy it very much. There was no question in Riley's mind Lucas enjoyed last night. He could have flopped down beside her and instantly fallen asleep but he stayed awake with her while planting light kisses all over her body and telling her how amazing, incredible and beautiful she was. She couldn't deny that she loved him more than anything now.

Riley dressed in the pajama shorts and Lucas' shirt that she had grabbed earlier when she had gotten out of the shower. She placed her hair in a messy bun before exiting her bathroom to see her boyfriend still fast asleep on their bed. She smiled at him as she exited the room to their kitchen. Riley decided to make a good breakfast from what they had. She prepared two omelets with ham and cheese and couldn't help but feel so maternal when she did it.

In the middle of her cooking, she heard the shower turn on which signaled Lucas was awake.

While Lucas was in the shower, Riley continued to think about the previous night while making breakfast. She had always been told that her first time was going to be awkward and clumsy and she supposed in a way it was but she wouldn't have had it any other way. Neither of them really knew what they were doing and were just trying to copy what they had seen in the movies but once they got the hang of it, it was better than they ever could have imagined.

A few minutes later, Lucas stepped out of the shower wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts. Riley wasn't going to say she didn't enjoy the sight of his bare chest but it did feel a bit odd having him walking around with nothing over his chest.

"No shirt today, huh?" Riley asked as she lifted an omelet onto its plate.

"You're not having people over are you?" Lucas asked, suddenly serious.

"No, I wasn't planning on it." Riley replied.

"Okay, good," Lucas said with a sigh of relief as Riley chuckled. He moved around the countertop that separated their kitchen from their small breakfast nook and encircled his arms around Riley. "And for your information, I was planning on wearing a shirt but somebody stole mine."

"Like this is your only shirt." Riley sighed as she melted into him. She could feel his body heat through his shirt and she had never felt more safe.

"Well, you seemed to enjoy it last night." Lucas retaliated.

"I do think it looks far better on you than it does on me." Riley said.

"That, my dear, is a complete and total lie." Lucas said before he kissed her forehead.

"I think you just like to see me in your clothes." Riley said. She had worn a few of his shirts on the rare occasion they didn't have anything to do once they moved in together and she couldn't help but notice as certain look on his face. It was a bit odd and quirky but Riley enjoyed it.

"And that is the complete truth." Lucas said.

"Hm," Riley hummed against him. "Well, just so you know, I'm not sure I'd like the scenario reversed."

"Duly noted." Lucas nodded against her.

Riley turned around in his arms after a quick moment of silence and gave him a lingering kiss. It was her favorite kind of kiss, no tongues or moaning or groaning (although she wouldn't complain about those either) but just their lips. It was like they were trying to communicate how much they loved each other through this kiss. It definitely made her feel special.

Riley looked up to see the same smile plastered across Lucas' face that was on hers. Their foreheads and noses remained touching and it was moments like these that made her think about her first kiss with him.

"Last night was the best night of my life." He quietly confessed.

"Me too," Riley said as she bit her lip.

It was at this moment Lucas dove down to Riley's neck and began to suck the life out of it. Riley began to feel weightless in his arms as he took her too a place only he could. She absolutely loved it and before she knew what she was doing, she was planting softer kisses on his shoulder. Only a moment later, Lucas grabbed her thighs and threw her around himself before their lips locked and they ravaged each other.

Riley could tell Lucas was walking somewhere but she didn't know where exactly until she felt herself fall off of him onto her bed. When she looked back up, he was gone.

"Lucas?" She called out, slightly confused.

"I'm here." He said as he rushed back into the room with a familiar looking shiny package in his hand.

"Oh, no." Riley said. "Not again."

"What? Are you okay?" Lucas asked. "I didn't hurt you last night, did I?"

"No," Riley said. He honestly didn't hurt her but it was a bit painful at first. He was so attentive to her it was almost annoying. She was happy when he finally went over the edge because he stopped asking if she was okay every time she made an odd face. "You really didn't. I just don't know if we should be doing this all the time."

Lucas moved to sit on the bed beside her and gently rested one of his hands on top of hers.

"Believe me, Riles, I don't think we are going to have time to be doing this all of the time even if you wanted to." Lucas assured her. "We just don't have anything to do this morning and I think that's a rarity."

"True." Riley said.

"But if you really don't want to-"

"Kiss my neck again." Riley almost commanded. "I think we are going to have to start over."

Lucas smiled as he dove down to her neck again. After a few minutes, he heard her mumble "okay, maybe I can do this.". They locked lips in the same caveman-like style they had before. Lucas was on top of Riley, almost there, when she suddenly pushed him off.

"Wait!" She exclaimed.

"What?" Lucas asked, terrified. Did he do something wrong? He didn't hurt her did he? He'd probably have to punch himself if he did. "What's wrong? Did I do something?"

"No," Riley reassured him. "I just made some breakfast and it's going to get cold."

Lucas chuckled at her. "Riley, I really appreciate it and I'm sure it will be delicious but we are so close, do you think we could wait?"

Riley contemplated this for a moment before she said, "okay."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, they were clothed in their own pajamas eating cold, but delicious, omelets watching TV on the couch while they were cuddled up into each other's arms. It was the best cold meal they had ever had.

* * *

 **AN: That was really smutty. Lol. Anyway, it will hopefully get better. For all you BMW fans out there, the story of them walking home from the library and Lucas giving Riley his jacket when she was cold was inspired by Topanga telling Cory she wanted their first time to be "more spontaneous, like when we are walking home from the library and you hold me because I'm cold and we look into each other's eyes and we just know." I am a huge fan of both shows so I like to throw a little nostalgia in there every now and again.**

 **This is also probably a good time to say I don't own BMW or GMW or that quote from Topanga Matthews (then Lawrence).**

 **The next few chapters are probably going to feel like oneshots but we are going to get to something really exciting soon, I promise. Just stick with me on this!**

 **Follow, favorite and review!**


	12. Halloween at Gamma Gamma Nu

Riley was currently standing in front of her full sized mirror on the back of her bedroom door starring at the halloween costume Maya had convinced her to buy. It was always the same when Maya convinced her to do something. It would make sense in the moment and maybe even a few days after but by the time the idea was going to be put to use, she would regret trusting the blonde bombshell.

Riley had gone back to New York City to visit her parents and Maya a few weekends ago. During that time she decided to go shopping for halloween. She was now an alumni of Gamma Gamma Nu but she was still invited to their annual halloween party on Cornell's campus so she was in need of a costume. She had invited Lucas to go to the party with her and he agreed but asked if they could not do couples costumes. It wasn't that he didn't want to be associated with Riley but that he thought it was rather corny when couples did that. She agreed as long as she could approve his costume.

Riley was going to tell Lucas what she was going to be once she came back from New York too but she decided against it. Instead, she told him that she and Maya had looked high and low all over the city but couldn't find anything. The truth was Riley had found something in the first store, she was just too ashamed to tell him what she had picked out. The look she got from the high school sales boy when she was checking out was enough for one day.

But she had bought the costume and was set on wearing it. Luckily for Riley, Lucas had a class that night and was planning on meeting her at the party later. That could give Riley a little bit of time to hide in her bedroom before she got the confidence to walk out the door.

She had been to four halloween parties with Gamma Gamma Nu at NYU and knew from experience that even though her outfit was sexy, it certainly wasn't going to be the sexiest thing at the party. Some girls would probably go as slutty versions of flappers, not at all like her and Maya in eighth grade. She really shouldn't have a reason to be nervous but she was. This wasn't her at all, but that's the great thing about halloween; you don't have to be yourself.

Riley had first emerged from the dressing room in a pretty princess outfit but Maya claimed it was way too obvious and insisted she try something else. After Riley had tried on a bunny costume, a unicorn costume and a different princess costume, Maya picked something out for her. When Maya gave her the package, Riley wasn't so sure about it but Maya called ring power. Riley wasn't a fan of the way she looked in the costume in the dressing room but she came out anyway, thinking her best friend was going to hate it as much as she did but judging by the look on Maya's face, it was quite the contrary.

"Please tell me you hate it." Riley said as she touched the tight black leather on her legs.

"No, I love it." Maya exclaimed. "You sure do make a sexy catwoman, Riles."

The costume was a skin tight, black, leather jumpsuit that covered everything but was cut low enough that it showed off most of Riley's decent sized chest. It also came with a pair of heeled boots that were just comfortable enough for Riley. Finally, it had a mask that covered part of her face and had points at the top to make it look like cat ears.

Riley moved to face the full sized mirror in the dressing room and looked at herself in the catwoman costume. It wasn't that she looked bad in it, she just never divulged in the sexy halloween costume trend. It was awkward for her to be wearing something like this and she wanted to put it back and go with one of the the princess costumes but the next thing she knew, she was at the register with Maya paying for the catwoman costume.

She had it now and she wasn't going to waste it. She just had to work up the courage to walk out the door. Without thinking, Riley grabbed the door knob and swung it open then exited her apartment.

There was no turning back now.

Maya had told Riley that Lucas would not be able to resit her in her catwoman costume and Riley couldn't disagree. However, it felt like something that should be between the two of them, not two hundred other people, half of which were drunk, wild, frat boys. Riley hoped she didn't attract the attention of them when she arrived.

However, her wishes did not come true. From the moment she stepped into the house, all eyes were on her. Her friends told her she looked stunning but Riley felt like she might as well have walked in the house naked. It was very strange for her to have everybody staring at her this way. She had spent years sitting behind her gorgeous friends, she didn't know how to feel now that the invisible spotlight seemed to be on her.

As she expected, a few guys tried to pick her up or made comments about her boobs or her ass but she did her best to ignore it. She decided next year she was going to be a princess for sure. She didn't care if she was going to be twenty-four years old the following year, she was going to be a fucking princess.

"Hello," said a male voice from above her. It was not a voice she recognized though. It had an interesting accent but Riley couldn't quite tell what it was based off of the one word he just said. He looked to be pretty well built, not as athletic as Lucas but still in good shape. On top of his muscles was a Batman costume and he was wearing a sincere smile on his face.

"Hi," Riley said back. She really didn't want to give this man the time of day but she knew she had to acknowledge him.

"Forgive me for being so forward, but I think you look beautiful in that costume." He said.

"Thanks," Riley said back as she let her guard down just a bit. At least he hadn't said something along the lines of 'nice ass'.

"Are you a freshman here?" He asked. "I haven't seen you before."

"No, I'm a graduate student." Riley said.

"Ah," the man replied. "Well, I'm still working on my undergraduate degree. Law student."

"Really?" Riley asked, now giving him her full attention. He didn't want to sleep with her, he just wanted to be her friend. "I'm a law student, too."

"Fantastic!" He said as he did an odd gesture with his hands. "I'm Laurent by the way."

"Riley," Riley replied as she shook his hand. "Where are you from? You're accent is beautiful."

"Why, thank you." Laurent responded. "I'm from Paris but I've lived in the United States since I was twelve."

"That's amazing." Riley said. "I've always wanted to go to Paris."

"Oh, really?" Laurent asked. "Maybe I could take you there some time."

"Oh, I don't know about that." Riley chuckled. "We've only just met."

"True." Laurent said. "You are right. No wonder you are a graduate student, you are so smart!"

"Thanks." Riley chuckled again, starting to feel a bit awkward now. Maybe she shouldn't have started a conversation with this guy.

"Yes, we shouldn't go to Paris right away." Laurent repeated. "We could go somewhere much closer together, like the bedroom?"

Oh, no. Now Riley knew she shouldn't have talked to this guy at all. What was she supposed to do? Walk away? Ignore him? She had never been in this situation before. She was able to catch a quick glance at Laurent's digital watch and saw that it was almost half past eight. Lucas' class ended at seven thirty. She knew his costume was going to take a while to get ready for but did he really need an hour? Why wasn't he here yet?

"Oh, I don't think so." Riley said as Laurent started to get closer and closer to her and she began to move further and further away but the bar the was behind her presented a problem. "I-I have a boyfriend."

Laurent let out a soft chuckle but it wasn't like one Lucas let out after Riley said or did something fairly amusing. It sent chills down her spine that made her fear for her life. She hated it and there weren't many things that Smiley Riley hated.

"Don't worry," he whispered into her ear. He was so close she could hear him over the thumping music that filled the house. "He doesn't have to find out. I know the drill. And I can tell you do too by the way you're dressed."

Maya was definitely going to die the next time Riley saw her.

Before Riley could even say something back, Laurent was slammed against the bar with one arm. The entire house went silent and the DJ stopped playing the music. Everybody's attention was now focused on Riley, Laurent and the man holding him against the bar. Riley followed his arm up to see it was…

"Lucas…" Riley breathed, thankful he arrived just in time but a bit shocked he had reacted this way. She hadn't seen him pin a guy down like this since Billy in the seventh grade. However, that was a bit different. Seventh grade Lucas was significantly smaller than current day Lucas. Also, Billy was Lucas' friend. Yes, Lucas was closer with Farkle and Billy had been giving him a hard time but Riley was sure he still knew that he couldn't kill Billy at the school. However, he might kill Laurent in the next few seconds.

"What the hell did you say to her?!" Lucas hollered in his face.

Laurent let that slick chuckle slide out of his mouth once again. That only seemed to make Lucas angrier so he picked up the frenchman and slammed him back against the bar, causing a few drinks to collide with the floor.

"Don't laugh at me." Lucas said in a quieter tone but still just as menacing.

"What's the matter?" Laurent taunted. "Jealous?"

"Of you?" Lucas asked with a scoff. "No, I'm not."

"I bet in a million years you could never get with a girl like that." Laurent sneered.

"Like you could?" Lucas scoffed again. "She was going to reject you, I could tell."

Instead of answering Lucas, Laurent looked over to Riley who had remained frozen in the same spot since Lucas had pinned Laurent to the bar.

"Is this the boyfriend?" Laurent asked but Riley gave him no answer. She looked up at Lucas with sad eyes but he was still glaring at Laurent. He blinked a few times and looked at her out of the corner of his eye. His glare softened just a bit but returned in full force when he looked back at Laurent.

"Well, you do know you could do much better than that, darling." Laurent said and that was the end of everything.

Fists were being thrown after that. Lucas hit Laurent, Laurent hit him but Riley simply couldn't move a muscle. She didn't move at all until she felt the familiar sting of a fist colliding with the side of her face.

"Riley!" She heard Lucas call her name and rush over to her. She slowly started to sit up with her hand still on her cheek. It wasn't the worst sting she had ever felt but it still wasn't pleasant.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asked softly. Riley simply nodded her head before he helped her stand up and they left the party.

* * *

When they returned to their apartment, Lucas got a bag of ice for Riley's cheek and a few places on his body he was sure would be bruised. It wasn't the worst fight he had ever gotten in and he was lucky nobody thought to call the police but he still felt awful that Riley had to see that side of him. He knew she wouldn't be a fan of it.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Lucas asked for the millionth time that night.

"Yes, Lucas I promise I'm fine." Riley said.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." He muttered but she heard him.

"I'm just glad you got there when you did." Riley said. "I don't know what would have happened if you didn't come to my rescue."

Lucas gave a weak smile before Riley asked a question he was hoping she didn't want to know the answer to. However, he couldn't lie to her.

"Who hit me? I couldn't see anything." Riley asked.

Lucas took a sigh and responded with the truth. The unfortunate thing about being friends with somebody for over ten years was you could tell when they were lying.

"I did." Lucas said as he flinched when he recalled coming in to contact with soft skin instead of rough skin. He didn't mean to hit Riley, he would never do that but he still felt extremely guilty. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I couldn't see anything and I-"

"No, I know." Riley said. "It's okay."

"Really?" Lucas asked.

"Yes." Riley responded truthfully. "You couldn't see. I understand."

"Okay." Lucas said before a moment of silence fell between the couple.

"I know we had planned for sex tonight but I'm not really in the mood." Riley said as she removed the cold ice pack from her cheek.

"That's fine." Lucas replied. "I'd honestly forgotten about it anyway."

"You? Forgotten about sex?" Riley asked surprised. It was certainly Lucas' new favorite activity and he and Riley had participated in it many times since their first time the month before. He wasn't and addict or anything, he was just a young man and he enjoyed it very much. Besides, it's not like Riley hated it either.

"Yeah, I know," Lucas chuckled as he removed a few ice packs too. "It's a miracle."

They both laughed quietly at the little joke before they made eye contact with each other and just stared at one another for a long but comfortable period of time.

"I love you, you know." Lucas said after a moment.

"I know." Riley said. "I love you, too. Thank you for being there for me tonight."

"Riley, I will never not be there for you."

* * *

 **AN: I don't know why I keep making guys that like to beat up on Riley. I love Riley and Girl Meets Rileytown was so sad but so good!**

 **Also, Laurent inspired by BMW's Lauren. Well, just the name** **anyway. I don't remember Lauren being that forward to Cory.**

 **Next time is Thanksgiving! Woo!**

 **Follow, favorite and review!**


	13. A Thanksgiving to Remember

Riley couldn't even remember why she wasn't talking to Lucas right now. It was their first huge fight as a couple and to be completely honest, she didn't even remember what it was about. All she knew was she was upset with him and nothing could change that.

They had gone through their fair share of spats as both friends and a couple. Riley rarely talked to Lucas when he was dating somebody in high school. They just said their hellos in the hallways and talked about stuff to do with class. However, it had been five years since Riley had graduated from high school. It had been five years since she hadn't talked to Lucas. Now, it was far worse because as much as it pained her not to talk to him in the past, she could always come home and be by herself. Now she lived with him.

It was getting pretty awful too. Most nights they would crawl into bed together but sleep as far away from the other as possible. Sometimes, Riley would wake up and Lucas would be gone. It scared her the first time because she thought he had had enough with this argument and left her. However, when she came running frantically out of their room, she saw him laying on the couch.

"Riley?" Lucas had asked, groggily. "What's going on?"

"I-I'm sorry I woke you." She had answered. "I thought you left."

"I would never leave you, Riles." He had said. "I just need some time."

Riley answered with an okay and went back to bed. She was trying her best not to cry but was failing miserably as time went on. She felt silly about crying though. Her relationship with Lucas was far from over, he had just reassured that a moment ago. She didn't want to give up on them either, not when she didn't even know why she would be throwing an almost year long relationship away. She wasn't sad that she was alone, although it was strange to be sleeping in this apartment in a bed by herself. She needed some time too. She wasn't ready to forgive him for whatever he had done.

Riley let the tears leak out of her eyes and through the sheets that night but she didn't dare make a scene about it. She knew Lucas would hear her through their paper thin walls and come darting into their room and hold her and tell her everything was going to be all right. She believed it would be but she had never been one for waiting. Whatever she and Lucas were arguing about was frustrating but they needed time. However, Lucas had always been a sucker for a crying Riley. He would forgive her and things would go back to normal but she would always be a little angry and that would eat her up inside. Eventually, she would explode and things would be so much worse than they are now.

They had both had their final day of lectures of the semester the day before and were on Thanksgiving break. Lucas was planning on flying out to Texas to stay with his family and Riley would be driving to New York City to stay with hers. They were quietly packing up the last of their things when they heard a news reporter from the television they had on.

"Breaking news: due to large amount of snow and ice all over New York City and surrounding areas, all roads leading into the city have been closed down. Residents are encouraged to stay off the roads."

"Fantastic." Lucas muttered sarcastically as he turned off the TV.

"What?" Riley asked as she exited the bedroom with her suitcase.

"All roads leading to the city have been closed because of the snow." Lucas told her.

Riley sighed before she answered him. "So we are stuck here?"

"Looks like it." Lucas replied as he threw the remote control on the couch.

"That is great news." Riley said with a sarcastic tone.

Riley trudged back to her room to put her suitcase in the corner of the room. Lucas came in shortly after her and Riley heard him put his suitcase on their bed and unzip it. As she turned around, she was hit in the face with a t-shirt.

"Hey!" Riley exclaimed as she threw Lucas' shirt off of her and onto the floor. "Don't throw that at me!"

"Sorry," Lucas muttered under his breath as he continued to scatter his clothes on the ground.

"What are you doing anyway?" Riley asked as she started to pick up his loose articles of clothing.

"What does it look like?" Lucas answered. "I'm unpacking."

"Why?" Riley asked.

"Because it's too late to catch a flight back to Texas now and I sure as hell am not driving." Lucas said in an irritated voice.

"Okay," Riley said, putting her defense up. "There's no need to get an attitude with me."

"I'm not getting an attitude with you." Lucas fired back.

"Yes you are, Lucas Friar!" Riley exclaimed. "You're throwing clothes at me and being short with me!"

"Well, maybe that's because I was looking forward to spending this holiday with my family and now I'm stuck here with you!"

Lucas' words hit Riley like a raging bull. Her expression of anger and frustration immediately dropped and she looked like an injured bunny. Lucas knew immediately that what he said was wrong and it hurt him to see her look this small. He didn't mean it that way. He loved spending time with Riley and these past few days had been killing him. He just hadn't seen his family since his dad died and he wanted to see how everything was back in the Lone Star State.

"Riley-" Lucas tried as she reached out for her arm. Riley flinched away from his touch and left their room.

"Riley!" Lucas called again. He followed her into the living room where he saw her grab a jacket and her phone from the table by the door.

"I need some space." Riley said. "Please don't follow me. Not that I really have to worry, you won't be stuck here with me anymore."

And with that, Riley opened the door and slammed it shut on her way out. Lucas followed her and gently banged both his fists on the door for being such an idiot. He thought about following her but maybe she was right. Maybe they both needed space. They had been together every moment the other didn't have class since this damn fight had started. They were trying to be together because, at least Lucas hoped, that there would be this almost fairytale moment where they would both say 'I'm sorry' and then kiss and everything would go back to normal. But maybe they were doing everything wrong. Maybe what they needed was some space. Lucas still loved Riley and didn't want to break up with her but maybe they needed an hour or two or three or seven or a day to clear their heads. Maybe he should stay here and Riley could go visit Maya and Josh. Or maybe Riley could stay here and he could go visit Farkle in Boston. Well, considering that the roads are now closed, neither of those were an option now.

Since he had lived in New York for a long time now, Lucas knew that most snow warnings usually lasted days or maybe even weeks. They weren't going to be able to go anywhere until after the break was over but he didn't know if he could live in this apartment with Riley anymore without suffocating from the tension they were creating. Had they waited too long? Lucas hoped with every ounce of his being they hadn't.

Lucas decided to give Riley her space. He sat down on their couch and watched some TV to try to take his mind of things but it was pointless. Lucas had learned a long time ago that when he was thinking about Riley, there wasn't much that could interfere. The TV show he was watching, though exciting, didn't manage to take his mind off of his queen.

After half an hour, Lucas checked his phone for any messages from Riley. He typically wouldn't be too concerned expect it was snowing very hard and he hoped she wasn't in any danger. He decided to send her a quick text to see if maybe she would respond.

 _ **Hey, I'm so sorry about what I've said and how we've been acting the past few days. Can I please come see you now? I love you.**_

Lucas only had to wait a few moments to get a text back from her.

 _ **I'm downstairs. I love you, too.**_

Lucas grabbed his key to the apartment and flew down the stairs to the apartment lobby where sure enough, Riley was sitting on one of the lounge chairs watching the TV they had bolted to the wall while drinking a cup of apple cider that the apartment staff kept on hand now that it was getting cold outside.

Lucas took a seat beside Riley and shot her one of their signature "hey"s.

"Hi." Riley responded with a small smile. Her cheeks were tear stained and bright red. Lucas knew he had caused this and he felt awful.

"Have you been here this whole time?" Lucas asked.

"No," she responded. "I went for a walk for a little bit but it was too cold outside so I came back here."

Lucas nodded as awkward silence filled the couple.

"I really am sorry about what I said." Lucas finally broke. "I love spending time with you, you know that. And-"

"Yeah, I do." Riley cut him off. "I know you were just upset. I'm sorry I made you get so angry."

"I should have never been that angry." Lucas said.

"Of course you should have!" Riley exclaimed. "We haven't been talking for the past few days. I've been feeling really angry too. If you weren't going to blow, I was."

"Still, I shouldn't have taken it out on you." Lucas said.

"Well, I shouldn't have taken it out on you, either." Riley replied.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked.

"When I left I said, 'Please don't follow me. Not that I really have to worry, you won't be stuck here with me anymore.' But I knew you didn't mean that." Riley said.

"It's fine." Lucas said. "I deserved it."

"I guess we both screwed up, huh?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, I guess we did." Lucas said as he looked down at his hands.

There was another short moment of silence before Riley spoke up this time.

"What were we even fighting about anyway?" Riley asked.

"We-" Lucas went to respond but he couldn't give her an answer. He honestly didn't know. He just remembered getting upset with Riley and then Riley getting upset with him.

Lucas chuckled a bit before he answered. "I honestly don't know."

Riley chuckled back at his answer. "Me neither. Can you believe we almost let nothing break us up?"

"Yeah, there's something I would have regretted forever." Lucas said.

The moments of silence between the pair were getting more and more comfortable. This one was the most comfortable yet as they just stared into each other's eyes and seemed to forgive each other instantaneously.

"I love you, you know." Lucas said. "I always have and I always will."

"I love you, too." Riley responded.

Lucas stood up off the table he was sitting on and kissed Riley for the first time in a couple of days. It felt oh so good to have his lips back on hers. They were becoming chapped and dry without the presence of her lips in the past few days. It could have very well been the sudden cold weather as well but Lucas believed it was Riley's absent lips that made his so dry.

When they finally pulled away, Riley gave him a look that was somewhere between sensual and loving. It was so powerful, it sent chills down his spine and he loved it.

"Do you want to go back up to the apartment now?" Lucas asked.

"That sounds fantastic." Riley responded.

* * *

As it turned out, they had a great Thanksgiving break with just each other. Yes, they were slightly disappointed to not be able to see their families but at least they weren't alone. Their Thanksgiving dinner wasn't the usual since almost all of the grocery stores were closed for the weather or out of turkeys but they made due with what they had. Thanksgiving night they ate turkey sandwiches and drank a bottle of cheap wine before they found themselves in the bedroom doing unmentionable things.

"I love you." Riley said as she twirled some of his pale chest hairs in her dainty fingers.

"I love you, too." Lucas responded before planting a kiss in her sweaty hair.

It certainly was a Thanksgiving neither of them would forget.

* * *

 **AN: Thanks again for all the follows, favorites and reviews! You guys rock so don't let anybody tell you otherwise :)**

 **Next time will be Christmas so get ready for lots of Matthews family lovin'!**

 **Follow, favorite and review!**


	14. The Case of the Sexy Lingerie

"Lucas, are you almost ready?"

"Yes, I just have to find my present for you." Came a male voice from the room in the back.

"I can't believe you forgot where you hid it." Riley muttered as she walked back into the room. Once she entered, she saw Lucas standing in the middle of their bedroom with a smug smile on his face and a long, narrow box in his hand.

"I found it." He said. "It was under the bed. I would take it with us but I think your dad would kill me if he saw you open this on Christmas morning."

"What the hell did you get me?" Riley asked with a suspicious eyebrow raised.

"Just something I thought the both of us could appreciate." Lucas said with a wink. "So do you want to open it before we leave or after?"

"I guess I'll do it now." Riley said with a sigh as she dropped her purse on the bed and took the package from Lucas' arms.

Riley gently ripped through the package and opened the box to see mounts of tissue paper covering the present. Once she got to the treasure, she was both completely surprised and not surprised at all.

"Really, Lucas?" Riley asked as she held the present up to her body. "Lingerie?"

"Oh, god." Lucas muttered as she swallowed a sudden large lump in his throat. "You have no idea how badly I want to see you in that."

Riley gave him a shy smile as she tossed the lacy fabric on the bed. "Maybe one day." She said in the tone she had reserved just for him and chuckled to herself when he let out a quiet groan.

"But right now we have to get on the road." Riley reminded him.

"All right, fine." Lucas said with a sigh. Riley left the room and Lucas grabbed the lingerie he had gotten for her and stuffed it in his bag. He was pretty sure they weren't going to have an opportunity to use it but he didn't want to miss a moment if one presented itself. Besides, it was tucked securely in his suitcase. Who would possibly see it?

This year, Riley and Lucas had decided to spend Christmas together. It was the first time they would be staying together during Christmas since the Christmas of their freshman year. It was weird to think that happened four years ago. It would be a Christmas he would never forget. He had decided to spend Christmas at her family's because he had found a certain love for New York during Christmas time. He had made a promise to his mama that he would go back the following year. It was also a great opportunity for the fearsome foursome to be back together again. Maya still lived in New York with Josh and according to her, it was going very well. Farkle would be coming back from Boston for the holidays and neither Riley or Lucas had seen their geeky friend in person in quite a long time. It would be great to have the whole gang back together again. They were so excited they had even planned for a second meeting on New Year's in Boston at Farkle's apartment.

There was still snow on the ground but not nearly as much as Thanksgiving time. It was just a light layer of the white fluffy stuff that lined the ground. Although Riley had volunteered to drive, Lucas insisted that he do it. They more both more than content at their current positions in the car.

Soon, they had arrived in the city, eventually escaped the New York City traffic neither of them had missed and arrived at Riley's parent's apartment. They knew the family was going to be excited to see them but they also knew they were not the only people coming to visit. As mentioned before, Maya, Farkle and Josh were all going to be at this little get together along with Auggie's girlfriend Ava, Riley's grandparents, her Aunt Morgan and her husband, Andrew, her Uncle Eric and his new girlfriend Catherine and of course no holiday at her parent's place would be complete without Shawn Hunter and his wife and Maya's mother, Katy Hart. It was also rumored that Farkle's parents, Stuart and Jennifer Minkus were going to be at the apartment too. It was certainly going to be a full house. Luckily, Riley and Lucas were going to be the only two to stay in their apartment for the night.

Riley burst into her old home excited to see her friends and family again. The only thing that could be heard at their entrance were screams of joy and giggles. Riley hugged Maya first then her parents and the rest of her family. Lucas came in shortly after with both of their bags and was nearly tackled by Maya.

"Hey, Maya." Lucas said as he responded to the hug a few moments later. "Long time no see."

"Indeed." Maya replied as she backed out of the hug. "Believe it or not, I kind of missed you cowboy."

"Yeah, I missed you too, Pancakes."

Maya flooded back into the crowd that had formed around Riley and Lucas was met with her parents and brother, all three of which wanted to make sure he was treating her right. Her mother and father seemed to be convinced when he said he was being a perfect gentlemen but the hard headed Auggie Matthews wasn't so sure.

"Don't worry, Auggie." He heard Riley say while he was arguing with Auggie. "He really has been perfect."

Lucas smiled at Riley as they shared one of their special connections. It still blew him away how she could look him in the eyes and smile lovingly at him, making it feel like they were the only two in the room. God, he really loved her.

"Riley, Lucas," they heard the voice of their former history teacher. "You guys can put your luggage in the guest bedroom."

"Okay, dad," Riley said as she worked her way out of the mob that was her family. She and Lucas each grabbed their bags and moved them to the guest bedroom, located between Auggie's room and Riley's old room. It seemed everybody else's bags remained in this room too. It was packed to the walls and ceiling with luggage.

Riley and Lucas managed to fit their bags into the stuffed room and return to the family room for more company. Riley started a conversation with Maya, Katy and her mother while Lucas walked over to Auggie who was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands.

"Hey, Auggie." He said as he sat down next to the other man. "Is something wrong?"

"It's Ava." Auggie dragged out in an aggravated sigh. That little girl who was turning into a short-tempered teenager and Riley would tell Lucas stories that Auggie would tell her about Ava. She wasn't really difficult it seemed, just a regular angsty teenager.

"She's always being so passive-aggressive lately." Auggie said. "First she wants me to hold her hand, then she gets mad that I squeeze it too hard. Then, she wants me to put my arm around her but not hold her too close. It's killing me, man!"

Lucas tried his best to suppress a laugh. He knew this was a big problem for Auggie and he didn't want to seem like he wasn't taking it seriously.

"I'm sure everything will be fine, Aug." Lucas said as he patted him on the back.

"Auggie." Speak of the devil.

"What do you want, Ava?" Auggie asked as she approached both of the boys.

"This cheese tastes funny." She said as she held up a can of spray cheese. Many things had changed about Ava Morganstren but her love of cheese was not one of them. "Do you think it's expired?"

"I don't know, check the label." Auggie huffed.

"Don't get an attitude with me, mister." Ava scolded him.

"I'm not getting an attitude with you. I'm just making a suggestion." Auggie said.

"Well, do you want to know what I think of your suggestion?"

It all happened in a matter of seconds. Ava turned the spray cheese to face Auggie, no doubt aiming for his face. Auggie seemed to catch on to what his girlfriend was doing because he was able to duck out of the way. However, Lucas did not have the same instinct. He was hit straight in the chest with a load of spray cheese.

It seemed Ava had caused a scene, just not in the way she intended.

"Lucas, I'm so sorry!" Ava exclaimed as she trampled over Auggie to approach the older man.

"It's fine, Ava." Lucas reassured her. "I'll just go change."

"You can put that shirt in the wash room with the rest of our dirty clothes, Lucas." Topanga said. "Just try to clean of some of the cheese first."

"Thanks, Mrs. Matthews." Lucas said as he headed back to their wash room. He was able to find a small towel to clean the gob of spray cheese off of his shirt before he tossed it into the hamper by the washing machine.

He then exited the wash room for the guest bedroom directly across from it. He pulled out a salmon colored shirt and throw that on over his chest.

If that was all that had happened, Riley and Lucas' Christmas holidays for that year would have been normal as usual. But of course, that could never happen could it?

What Lucas failed to notice was the small, black, lacy fabric that came tumbling out of his luggage with his new shirt, now out in the open for every one to see.

* * *

A few hours had passed since the cheese incident and nobody seemed to notice anything was off. The entire family and friends had come around the table when Amy exclaimed how wonderful a picture this would make and ran to get her camera in the guest bedroom. She came out with something all right but it certainly wasn't a camera.

Amy exited the back room with a very sour look on her face.

"Amy?" Alan had asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Who's is this?" She asked as she held the black, lace lingerie out for everybody to see.

There were collective gasps and groans of disgust throughout the room. Riley shot daggers at Lucas as quickly as she could and Lucas felt his heart fall through the floor. Even if by some miracle he and Riley were to leave the Matthews' home without realizing it belonged to them, Riley was going to kill him when they got home.

"Well, it certainly isn't mine." Katy said.

"Oh, thank god that would have been so awkward." Maya sighed. "FYI, it's not mine either, Mrs. Matthews."

This was it. This was how Lucas was going to die. He had survived riding a sheep and riding a bull, overcoming his anger issues and many other things but he was going to be killed by a Matthews. He just couldn't figure out if it was going to be by Cory or Riley. Possibly Alan. Maybe Topanga. Auggie, sure. Amy, probably not but possibly. Eric, not sure.

"Well, why don't we just put it away for now and enjoy dinner, huh?" Morgan asked.

"Yes, that seems like a good idea, Morgan." Amy had said.

Lucas quietly sighed of relief. He was out of the clear for now but he knew they would find out eventually.

Fortunately, dinner consisted only of family friendly talks that were far from lingerie. They all talked about school and their careers. All and all, it was a good family dinner.

Lucas was bought a few more minutes when Topanga asked Riley to help with the dishes. Lucas was in a conversation with Jack and Eric when he felt a firm hand grab his shoulder and dig it's nails through the fabric of his thick sweater.

"Hey, Riley." Lucas said as he turned around.

"Hey, darling." Riley said in her best sweet voice. That alone scared Lucas to death. "Can I talk to you outside for a moment."

"Um, yeah. Yeah, absolutely." Lucas answered nervously. He excused himself from his conversation with Eric and Jack and walked out into the hallway with Riley.

"Hey, hey, Riles." Lucas said in a small timid voice. "Hey, gorgeous. I love you, you know that?"

"Yeah, I love you, too." Riley said as she backed him against the wall. For a moment Lucas thought she was going to make out with him right them but instead she got really close to his ear and whispered, "But you can be so damn frustrating sometimes."

Riley pushed herself off the wall with lots of force as paced the halls with her head in her hand.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Riley exclaimed. "Do you know how embarrassing it was for me to just sit there and watch your damn Christmas present be waved around in my face like that?!"

"I know. I'm so sorry!" Lucas said. "I didn't think they would find it. I'm not really sure how they found it actually."

"Probably because you've never learned how to pack properly." Riley said. "It could have fallen out when you were getting your shirt."

"Oh," Was all Lucas could say.

"Now, I'm done here. I'm going to go inside and enjoy my holiday but when we get back to school you are paying, mister." Riley threatened.

"Yes, ma'am." Lucas responded as he swallowed a lump in his throat.

The two returned from the hallway moments later. Everything seemed to file back in to order once they arrived and it was all family fun afterwards. For a moment, Lucas thought everybody had forgotten about the lingerie until Ava went home and Auggie announced he was going to bed.

"But really, who's lingerie was that?" Josh asked.

"I bet it was their's." Maya said pointing to Riley and Lucas. She knew them both too well.

"What?!" Cory exclaimed. Her mother as well as her grandparents, uncles and aunt were all staring at them.

"No," Riley scoffed. "No, it's-it's not ours… or mine. I don't-I don't know where it came from."

Out of all the progress Riley had made since high school, she was still just as terrible of a liar. Her family seemed to see right through her.

"It's not ours." Lucas said with a much firmer voice than his girlfriend did.

"Then why was Riley stuttering so bad?" Eric asked.

"Because she's embarrassed, that's all." Lucas said. "Why so defensive, Eric? Is it yours?"

"What? No!" Eric said. "It's not mine. It's not ours." He mentioned between him and his girlfriend.

A small argument erupted between the family as the blame was shifted from one couple to the next. Riley seemed to be hiding behind Lucas like a child, hoping the blame wouldn't be put back on them because she would probably blurt out the truth at that point.

Lucky for them, their blonde- headed best friend seemed to read their body language almost immediately. She could tell Riley was embarrassed and seemed nervous about something. Lucas was trying to console her but he seemed just as nervous. It was their's.

"It's mine." Maya blurted out.

The attention was shifted back to Maya.

"It's yours?" Amy had asked.

"Yes," she said. "I bought it myself. Josh didn't have anything to do with it."

"Why?" Cory asked.

"No, no!" Shawn exclaimed. "I don't want to know the answer to that."

"Yeah, it is a bit personal." Maya said. "I didn't mean to bring it here with all my gifts though. I'm so sorry Mr. and Mrs. Matthews."

"I suppose it's fine." Topanga said. "It's not like you meant to bring it."

"Yeah!" Lucas exclaimed, suddenly.

"Huckleberry, zip it!" Maya said. "It must had been Lucas that knocked it off the top. He went in there to get a new shirt."

"That's right." Cory said. "That's why I didn't see it before."

"Well, why don't we all forget about it and try to have a good holiday, shall we?" Alan said.

Everybody gave their words of agreement and scattered around the living room. Maya walked past Riley and Lucas and gave them both a knowing look.

"You owe me," Maya said. "Both of you."

* * *

Unfortunately for Lucas, since Maya had claimed the lingerie, she had to take it home with her. He was disappointed but he supposed he deserved it.

Lucas was returning home from a study session one day when his dreams came true. It took Riley some time to warm back up to him but she couldn't live without him for too long. A few days ago, everything was starting to feel like normal again. Today, he was reaffirmed of that when he walked into his apartment to see his girlfriend standing in their living room wearing the sexy black lingerie he had bought for Christmas.

Oh, yes. Things were certainly back to normal.

* * *

 **AN: So there is my attempt at being humorous. Oh, well hopefully it landed okay.**

 **I am so sorry for not updating this sooner! I had huge writer's block and school has been absolutely insane! Hopefully I will add the next chapter soon!**

 **I have also published two new stories since this. "Colder Weather" is a oneshot for now, possibly a twoshot later, and it's really sad but I've been hearing pretty goo things about it. My other story "Fairytale" is going to be multi chapter and have themes from lots of different fairytales like Little Mermaid. If you haven't already, I would love for you guys to check them out, maybe give me a follow,** **favorite or review if you think they are pretty good.**

 **Next time: New Year's**

 **Follow, favorite & review!**


	15. Sick

It was that time of year again when everybody was starting to get sick. Riley knew because the cold medicine at the grocery store was disappearing faster than ever. When Riley was in elementary school, middle school and even most of high school, she would hope and pray to get sick for the next day. Not so sick she had to go to the doctor's office but just enough so she could stay home for a day or two. Now, Riley had simply convinced herself that she couldn't get sick. She couldn't miss any of her classes because they covered so much in only one day. She would be completely lost if she missed only one class meeting.

That didn't stop her from feeling as awful as she did today. Her head was throbbing, her stomach was churning and she simply felt weak. But Riley wasn't sick. Riley Matthews never got sick.

After laying awake in bed for a few minutes, she felt a big, warm hand start to rub her back. This was Lucas' way of letting her know he was awake and aware enough for her to talk to him. Riley usually turned over right away but today she was afraid if she did, her head would go spinning or she would vomit all over the place. That would make the time she stuck her finger up his nose look like nothing in terms of embarrassment.

So Lucas moved on to his next way of waking her up. Sometimes Riley would be so tired that she wouldn't feel his hand on her back. On the rare occasions that happened, Lucas would simply move closer and start to gently kiss her neck. He made sure to put enough pressure on it that she would wake up but not so much that he would leave a mark on her. He was an expert at kissing her now so he knew just how much pressure he should apply.

Riley gently smacked him away and turned over with a sigh. She just wanted to lay in bed all day. She did have class though so she would have to get up soon. Her professor more than likely wouldn't be too upset with her if she came to class one day wearing sweatpants and an oversized hoodie.

As soon as Riley turned over to face Lucas, his demeanor changed. He could tell something was wrong with her. She didn't look like she was feeling all that great.

"Riles, are you feeling okay?" He asked.

Riley nodded, although that made her head hurt even more.

"I feel fine'd." Riley replied. Her nose was so stuffed up she couldn't even speak normally.

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked.

Before she could even answer, he placed a hand on her head to check her temperature. His hands, which were usually warm but comforting, felt cool and nice on her head.

"Riley, you're burning up!" Lucas exclaimed.

"But I feel fine'd!" She argued back. "You're hands are probably just cold."

"Do you want me to go get the thermometer?" Lucas asked.

"You can but it's not going to do you any good." Riley said as Lucas sprung out of their bed. He was back in a flash as he handed the medical instrument to Riley. She shoved it in her mouth and waited until it started beeping.

"What does it say?" Lucas asked.

"98.6" Riley lied.

"Really?" Lucas asked, very skeptical of what his girlfriend had just told him.

"Yes!" Riley said.

Lucas took the thermometer back and turned it on. It wasn't until then Riley remembered the thermometer showed two numbers before it started taking someone's temperature. The first was the normal number of 98.6 and then whatever the temperature of the last person who used it was.

"102.4?" Lucas exclaimed. "Riley, you're sick. Just stay in bed and I'll take care of you, okay?"

"But I'm not sick!" Riley argued back. "I don't get sick! I feel fine'd! I have classes to go to and I- oh."

Riley leapt out of bed and pushed past Lucas before headed to the bathroom and shutting the door. For a moment, Lucas thought she was trying to pull a fast one on him and start getting ready for school but the next thing he heard was Riley vomiting into the toilet. She was sick and he would swear to it until his dying day.

He waited for the noise to stop and for the toilet to be flushed before he came in to check on her. Riley was leaning against the wall opposite the toilet taking deep breaths in and out.

Lucas squatted down beside her, not wanting to get too close in case she had to vomit again.

"Maybe I am sick." Riley admitted after a while. "But I only have one class today, so can I just go to that? Then I'll come home and stay in bed and do nothing for the rest of the day."

"Fine." Lucas agreed. "If that will make you happy."

Riley smiled weakly at him before continuing.

"Thank you, Lucas." She said. "You're such a good boyfriend."

* * *

Riley decided to sit in the back of the stadium seated classroom. She hoped this way her professor wouldn't notice her and wouldn't ask her any questions. Usually, she would welcome it but today was different. She was afraid if she would talk, she would spew her guts out. She had thrown up at home two more times before she left for class. All she needed to do was hold down her lunch for two more hours. That didn't seem too hard but she was struggling to do so only ten minutes into the class.

"Ms. Matthews?" She heard her name.

"Yes?" Riley answered, weakly.

"Ms. Matthews, would you care to answer the question?" The professor asked her.

"Um, yes." Riley said. What was the question? What if she answered wrong? This wasn't middle school anymore where it would be kind of funny if she answered wrong. She would feel like a dumb ass if she just started rambling about something that was no where near the question she was asked.

"Ms. Matthews, are you feeling all right?"

Riley meant to say yes but instead, she felt all of the bile rising in her throat and she knew she had only a minute or so before she was going to vomit all over the place. Luckily, she had picked a spot near the trash can. She leapt out of her chair and vomited into the trash can. By the time she was done, the entire class was staring at her. This was worse than what would have happened if she had answered the question wrong.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Ms. Matthews, you are excused from my class." Her professor said. "Bring a doctor's note back upon your return and please take that trash can outside the building if you don't mind."

"Yes, ma'am." Riley sighed as she picked up the trash can and exited the class room.

* * *

Lucas got home from his two classes about three hours after Riley got home. He had hoped she would be taking it easy instead of trying to do everything around the house.

Once he entered their apartment, Lucas saw all the lights were out in the main room and kitchen. He hoped Riley hadn't gone out feeling the way she did. Even if it was just cold medicine, he could get that for her. In fact, he had a small bag of medicines and teas he had picked up from the pharmacy.

Lucas sat the bag of stuff down on a table before she started looking around their apartment for Riley. Luckily, she was laying in their bed taking a nap. Lucas closed the door before he when out to the living room to start studying for his classes.

About a half an hour later, Riley came out of their bedroom.

"Hey," Lucas said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit to be honest." Riley said as she took a seat across from him. "Although that nap helped."

"Well, that's good." Lucas said. "I got you some medicine and tea and stuff if you want any of that now."

"That would be amazing." Riley said as she got up to go get some.

"No, it's fine." Lucas said as he beat her over to the counter where all the medicines were laying. "I've got it."

"But you're studying-"

"Riles, this will only take five minutes at the most." Lucas said. "I'll stay up an extra five minutes for you."

"Thank you, Lucas." Riley said. "I'd kiss you right now but I don't want to get you sick."

Lucas smiled as he poured out some medicine and made some tea for Riley before she shuffled back to their bed.

* * *

"Now, do you need anything else?" A now healthy Riley asked a sick Lucas.

"No, I'm fine'd." He rasped. "Thank you, Riley. You're the best girlfriend ever."

"Thank you." Riley said. "I'd say the same but you keep stealing my best lines."

* * *

 **AN: I suck at updating! I'm so sorry! I'm also sorry this isn't New Year's like I said it was going to be but I couldn't get that story going very well. Besides, Michael Jacobs and his staff are going to do a much better job than I ever could.**

 **So here's the deal. I originally planned on having about 36 chapters in this story but there are some chapters I just not very excited about writing. It's almost finals time so I probably won't be updating all that much after this week until mid- December. I went ahead and scratched out some of the chapters that I just can't get the motivation to write so that shorted the story to about 28 or 29 chapters. If you read my most recent one shot, Book on a Shelf, then you might have seen in my AN there, I'm planning on a big twist for this story to take and that's why I'm not giving up on it, no matter what. Even if Lucaya wins and Rucas is over, I will keep writing this story until the very end!**

 **I've also seen some writers give shout outs and what not to reviewers and I think that's kind of cool so I'm going to do that now for all my username reviews for Chapter 14:**

 **sand1128: Thank you so much! I hope this is how Rucas will turn out when they are about this age!**

 **0Aurora0HighLights0: Thank you very much! I love your stories too!**

 **harleywrites: I'm super glad you enjoyed it! I was very worried about it and felt like it might have been to abrupt but I'm glad you loved it!**

 **xForeverAndAlways: Thank you! I try!**

 **Glee Clue Rock 1251: Thank you so much!**

 **lalaland: Thank you very much! I keep getting notifications from you and it makes me so happy that you enjoy my work!**

 **shapeshifter1947: Oh, what can I say to you. I feel like I get a review from you ever time I post a new chapter or every time I write a new story and I love it! You have been one of my cheerleaders since the beginning and I think you are awesome and incredible and just... ugh! Thank you so much for reading my works!**

 **Anyway, next chapter (I think) will have Riley feeling trusting and Lucas feeling guilty.**

 **Follow, favorite and review!**


	16. Pregnancy Scare

It was October so everybody was starting to hang up their Halloween decorations. Some were of funny ghosts and smiling candy corns. Riley always felt more comfortable with those kind of decorations. She related to them more. She had some of the best friends she could ever ask for, the best family she could ask for, the best boyfriend she could ask for and all and all, the best life she could ask for.

Some of the decorations were a little more gaudy. Like very realistic clown faces with blood soaked down their pale, white face or vampires or werewolves with blood on their fangs. Riley remembered seeing some of these on the streets of New York when she was little and hide behind her mom or dad. They would tell her their was nothing to worry about but she would stay hidden behind them until she was sure the monster couldn't see her anymore and wasn't following her down the streets.

Yes, Riley used to be scared of some halloween decorations and the more frightening holiday of the year was upon her. She was terrified but it wasn't because of the nightmare-inducing halloween costumes that hung on the doors of some people's homes. She hadn't been scared of that in a long time. It was funny how her fears as a little girl seemed laughable now. Especially the fear that she might be carrying this very minute.

She was late. October always seemed like a pretty busy time of year. Well, really anytime seemed like a busy time of year for a graduate law student at Cornell, but October and the following months in particular. She hadn't even noticed at first, that is until the awakening moment.

Riley woke up at 9:00 on a Tuesday morning. Lucas had an awful 6:00 am class that morning so he wouldn't wake her unless she was already up. After all, she was a big girl. She could get to class on time by herself. But today, she had slept through her alarm. She had been feeling exceptionally sleepy for the past few days but just contributed that to a lack of sleep. She had been staying up until 2:00 in the morning for the past few nights studying for her classes. Still, she had never slept through an alarm before in her entire college career.

Riley flew out of bed but instantly felt a huge amount of nausea kick in. She ran as quickly as she could to the bathroom and threw up until her stomach started hurting. She fell back against the wall to rest for a moment before she would get ready for class. Just when she thought it was over, it started up again. She was in the bathroom vomiting for nearly an hour. Luckily, she was able to clean herself up before Lucas got home. She honestly felt fine after that and didn't need to stay home from her afternoon classes.

When she got done with her afternoon class at 4, she felt her phone start to buzz in her back pocket. She saw that it was a call from her life long best friend and answered the phone in a flash.

"Maya!" Riley exclaimed. "What's up?"

"Hey!" Maya responded. "I was just calling to let you know Josh and I are free this weekend so we were thinking of heading up your way. Does that sound cool?"

"Yeah, absolutely!" Riley said. "Let me check my calendar real quick."

Riley pulled the phone away from her face to check her calendar to see she had no plans that upcoming weekend. There was, however, a small dot on the weekend before. _That's weird._ Riley thought. _I didn't have anything going on last weekend._ Out of curiosity, she pressed the dot to see what the event was supposed to be. She nearly dropped her phone when she saw the word "period" in the space. Riley kept track of her period on her phone and she had just realized why she might have been sick this morning. But she couldn't be… could she?

"Riley? Riles?"

Riley heard her name coming out of the phone she placed it back up to her face so she could talk to Maya. She tried to calm herself before she answered. She probably wasn't pregnant anyway. It had only been off by a few days and she probably just ate something funny for dinner the night before. No, she wasn't pregnant. She was still in school. She didn't have a stable job yet. She wasn't ready to be a mom and Lucas wasn't ready to be a dad. She couldn't be pregnant.

"Yeah, sorry." Riley responded to Maya. "Yeah, it looks like I'm free, I'll see you then, bye."

Riley hung up the phone and started speed walking to her car. She knew Maya would ask about it but hopefully by this weekend, she wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

But the weekend came and Riley was still getting sick in the mornings and she still hadn't had a period. Maya was almost here with Josh. Josh and Lucas had gotten really close so they planned for some guy time once Josh arrived, leaving Riley and Maya alone at the apartment.

"Riley are you sure you're okay?" Maya had asked. "You're acting strange."

"I'm fine." Riley lied. She was freaking out and she was kind of surprised Lucas hadn't noticed.

"You don't seem fine." Maya said.

"No, I am." Riley said again. "Except I've been throwing up for the past few mornings and I'm- I'm late but other than that, I'm just peachy, peaches."

"Riles," Maya eventually said. "Aren't… aren't those all symptoms of-"

"Being pregnant?" Riley interrupted. "Yeah, they are."

"Are you-"

"I don't know, Maya!" Riley exclaimed. "I've been too afraid to check."

Maya stayed staring at her best friend for a long time before she went over to the coat rack and grabbed both her's and Riley's coat.

"Come on." Maya said, shaking Riley's coat in front of her.

"Where are we going?" Riley asked.

"To the drug store." Maya replied. "You and I are getting answers."

So the two girls drove to the nearest drug store and picked out three different pregnancy tests and one of Riley's favorite drinks so this would be a tad bit easier on her. They paid for their items and then rushed back to the apartment. Luckily, the guys weren't home yet. Maya had to coax Riley into the bathroom to take them but she eventually agreed. She came out a few seconds later. They set a timer on Maya's phone and waited for the results.

"What am I going to do, Maya?" Riley asked, blankly.

"I'm sure you and Huckleberry will figure it out." Maya said.

Riley was about to ask something else but the timer on Maya's phone went off, signaling the tests were ready.

"Will you come with me?" Riley asked, her heart thudding in her chest.

"Of course." Maya said.

The two girls approached the bathroom cautiously, as if there was a bomb inside. Riley pushed open the door and walked in while Maya stayed at the doorframe. Riley picked up the first test along with the box to see the results.

"Maya?" Riley said.

"Yes, peaches?" Maya responded.

"This one says positive." Riley told her.

Maya's eyes wide at her friend's results. She didn't think Riley would actually be pregnant. If she thought one of them was going to have a baby out of wedlock, it would be her. Maybe she was pregnant.

"Maybe it's just a false positive." Maya said. "Check the other two."

Riley nodded while she looked at the second one, clearly trying to keep herself composed.

"Oh, god." Riley said. "This one's negative."

"See?" Maya said. "It's probably just a false positive! Check the last one, I bet anything it's negative too."

"You bet anything?" Riley said as she looked at the third and final test.

"Yeah." Maya said. "Why?"

"Looks like you lost everything." Riley said as she showed Maya another positive pregnancy test.

"What does this mean?" Maya asked. Did Riley really have two false positives or a false negative? The false negative seemed more likely but she hoped for two of her best friends' sakes, it was two false positives.

"We're home!" They heard from outside. Lucas and Josh were back from their guys day out.

"Oh, no," Riley started worrying. "Lucas is home! He's going to know something is wrong!"

"Why don't you just tell him?" Maya asked.

"Because I don't even know yet." Riley said.

"But you have an inkling of an idea." Maya said. "Lucas deserves to know too."

"I deserve to know what?"

May turned around and Riley looked over her short friend to see a slightly worried look on her boyfriend's face with one Josh Matthews in tow. As much as Maya wanted to stick around to see where this conversation went, she knew this was something Riley and Lucas needed to discuss in private. She moved past Lucas and grabbed Josh's arm and pulled him out of their bedroom and into the main living area.

"Riley, you're kind of scaring me." Lucas said. "You're not cheating on me are you?"

"No! No." Riley giggled. "It's- it's actually kind of funny. Well, actually, it's not funny at all but it's very interesting. Actually would you rather just go outside with Maya and-"

"Riles." Lucas said quietly but loudly enough to make her stop talking. He gently placed his hands on her upper arms and looked her straight in the eye, daring her to look somewhere else. She knew, good or bad, she was going to have to tell him. She took a deep, shaky breath before she let out her secret.

"I think… I'm pregnant."

Lucas stayed frozen where he was, not daring to believe her words. There was absolutely no way. They were careful… most of the time. But forgetting a condom once or twice wasn't ready going to hurt anything was it? Maybe it just did.

"What?" Lucas finally asked.

"I… I don't know." Riley said, moving out of his arms and into the bathroom. "I've been sick every morning since Tuesday and I'm almost a week late on my period so Maya took me to the drug store to buy some pregnancy tests and two of them are positive and one is negative so I have no idea what any of this means."

Riley voice started getting louder and faster as she kept talking. By her last few words Lucas was muttering her name, trying to calm her down because he knew she was on the verge of breaking down. He pulled her into his arms and she collapsed onto him. He was able to catch her before she went crumbling down on the floor.

"We'll… we'll figure this out." He reassured her but he honestly had no idea how they were going to do that.

Riley figured the best way to know if they were going to have a baby would be to go to the gynecologist. She found one in town and made an appointment at a time neither she or Lucas had class. They waited awkwardly in the waiting room for almost half an hour before they were called back. The doctor asked Riley some questions and determined that the best thing to do was an ultrasound. It didn't take long for an image to pop up on the screen.

"It looks like you are in fact pregnant, Ms. Matthews." The doctor said.

He started pointing out little spots of what they were seeing but Riley and Lucas had both blacked out. They were going to be parents. They weren't absurdly young but it felt too soon for them. They were still in school. Lucas had another four years left after they both graduated in the spring. Riley could work after the baby was born and they could be in a much worse situation but it still wasn't ideal.

After the doctor printed off some pictures for them, he told them they probably shouldn't tell people just yet since Riley was very early on in her pregnancy. They nodded, honestly not wanting to tell people until they absolutely had to.

The next few weeks, Riley and Lucas remained pretty distant from each other. They both still ate dinner together and slept in the same bed but they didn't talk as much as they usually did. They took the doctor's advice and decided not to tell people they were expecting until their next appointment. Not even Maya knew. Riley told her they were completely booked until next month, when her next doctor's appointment was.

About two weeks after their doctor's appointment, Riley and Lucas were laying in bed, fast asleep. That is until Riley was woken up by a strange, wet feeling between her legs. She threw the sheets off of herself and saw a small pool of dark liquid emerging from her. She took a bit of it in her fingers and held it up to the moonlight, immediately recognizing what it was.

"Lucas." Riley said as she gently shoved her boyfriend. He made and 'umph' noise but didn't wake up.

"Lucas!" Riley said again a little louder and shoved him a little harder this time.

"What?" He asked sleepily. "What's wrong?"

"I'm bleeding."

Lucas' eyes moved down the bed until they landed on Riley legs and the small pool of blood that was expanding around her. He looked into her eyes and only saw one thing; helplessness.

"We have to go to the hospital." Lucas said as he flew out of bed. He tossed Riley a new pair of pants and underwear and helped he stand once she was ready.

They made it to the hospital in record time and were immediately checked in once the staff was made aware of the situation. They had Riley give a urine sample and then wait in a bed in the ER.

Riley and Lucas were silent until their doctor entered their room with a sad look on his face.

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Matthews." He said. Like their last appointment, everything else was blocked out. Riley sat on the bed while she started at her feet, fiddling with her hands she had placed over the stomach. Lucas was looking at Riley trying to read her emotions. It didn't take long for him to figure out that she was depressed. He had never seen her depressed either but he knew that's what it was.

The doctor finally left and as soon as he closed the door, Riley burst into tears. Lucas immediately jumped up beside her and held her like a child. He cried too, but much more silently.

"It's all my fault." He heard Riley say.

"What?" He asked, genuinely confused.

"I didn't want it." Riley said. "I prayed this was just a dream and I wouldn't be pregnant anymore. Well, my wish came true."

"Riley, these things just happen. It's not your fault." Lucas said.

Riley cried harder. Lucas silently for a long time until he mumbled an 'it will be okay.'

"How?" Riley exclaimed. "How on earth do you know that?"

"Because we have each other, don't we?" Lucas said.

Riley cried harder at that. Lucas was right. Their love could get them through anything and it would get them through this.

* * *

 **AN: I know this isn't what I promised but a lot of you asked for a pregnancy scare and I just got carried away so there you go. I hope you guys like it!**

 **I'm not going to say what's going to happen next because I feel like I'm not going to stick to the schedule I laid out of myself but if I do, it's going to be big! You won't want to miss it!**

 **Follow, favorite & review!**


	17. The Internship

A baby changes everything. It was a quote both Riley and Lucas had heard many times and they believed it. But not having a baby changes everything too.

It had almost been a month since Riley's miscarriage and she still hadn't returned to normal. She hardly ever talked to Lucas, she ate very, very little, slept less than she ate, and only left their apartment to go to class. When she returned, she would go back into their bedroom and sulk under the covers until Lucas tried to force her to eat or she had to go to another class.

It made him feel selfish but Riley's depression was taking a toll on Lucas as well. He felt guilty every time her went out with his friends. He felt guilty every time he had a full meal when she would only eat about and eighth of her dish and he could rarely sleep when he knew she was still awake.

Lucas tried several times to get Riley to talk about it. He thought talking would help her. It wasn't going to be something either of them looked forward to and Lucas always had to prepare himself when he was going to bring it up because it was going to hurt him too. He was going to have a baby too and he was depressed too. He just had a different way of showing it. He tried to be very gentle and comforting about it. He would crawl into bed with her and put his hand on her shoulder and speak in a soft voice. So far, every time Lucas had brought this up, Riley had ignored him. Sometimes she had her eyes closed, trying to pretend to be asleep, but Lucas saw the tears leaking out of her eyes. Unless she was having a bad dream at the same time he was talking to her, she was faking sleep. Sometimes she would just stare at the wall in front of her, hardly acknowledging Lucas' presence.

At first he was patient with her. It had only been a week when he first tried to talk to her about it. She probably needed more time. But then two weeks went by, then three and then a month and she still wasn't opening up about this.

He was the only one she could talk to about this because nobody else knew that their baby ever existed. Riley had told Maya that her doctor's appointment confirmed she wasn't pregnant. Maya had told her that must have been a relief. Riley had answered with a heartless 'yes' then hung up the phone. He parents had no idea she had had a pregnancy scare in the first place. They didn't need to know that she had lost their first grandchild. The night they lost the baby, Riley made Lucas swear not to tell anybody about the baby. He didn't like it but he agreed, for her sake.

Today it had been exactly one month since they lost their baby. Neither of them got any sleep at all. Riley could feel the blood in between her legs all night. So much so she had to check under the covers a few times over the night. Lucas could feel Riley shaking him awake when he would try to doze off to sleep. He would tell himself that it was over and everything was going to be all right. He tried to look up at Riley for confirmation but she looked the same way she did that night. It didn't help him at all.

"Do you mind if I go sleep on the couch?" Lucas asked.

Riley said nothing in reply. He took that as a 'do whatever you want' and flung himself out of bed. He hoped Riley would jump up after him, throw her arms around him and cry herself to sleep because then they might be able to start the healing process but she stayed where she was.

The next morning Riley had left before Lucas woke up to go to one of her classes. She walked all the way there and sat and listened blankly to the lecture for a few hours and then got up to go back home and sit in her bed.

"Ms. Matthews?" She heard her professor say right after she had dismissed the class. "Can I have a word with you?"

Riley nodded as she climbed down the stairs of the stadium style classroom. She finally reached the bottom where her professor was.

"You wanted to see me?" Riley asked.

"Yes," Professor Hawk said. She was a short, brunette woman, very young but very assertive and a very successfully lawyer as well as a professor and advisor. She reminded Riley of her mom. "You do plan on graduating next semester, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am." Riley replied.

"Well, when were you planning on meeting with me about your internship possibilities?" Professor Hawk asked, sternly.

Oh shit! Riley hadn't given school much of a thought since the miscarriage. She knew her grades were talking a drastic slide but she had As in almost every class she had taken at Cornell so she wasn't too worried. But if she didn't get an internship, she couldn't graduate in the spring and the fall semester was almost up.

"Oh, I am so sorry." Riley told her professor. "I've just been dealing with a… family crisis." She lied. "I haven't had much time to think about anything else."

"Oh, I am so sorry, my dear." Professor Hawk said. "I hope everything works out for you. If you would like, I am not busy right now so if you want to go over internship possibilities right now, I would be more than happy to."

"Yes, that would be great." Riley responded.

So Riley followed Professor Hawk to her office, a floor above the classroom, and sat in the chair across from her professor. Professor Hawk pulled out a binder and began flipping through it and logged on to her computer.

"So it says in the system here that you requested to remain in New York at the start of term, is that right?" Professor Hawk asked.

"Yes, that's right." Riley said.

"Shame." Professor Hawk said. "There is an internship in Washington, D.C. I think you would be perfect for."

Washington, D.C.? That would be kind of cool. Maybe after all she has gone through, Riley needed to get out of New York. Maybe she needed some space from her parents for the first time in her life. Maybe she needed to make new friends and let Maya do her thing in New York. Maybe she needed some space from… Lucas.

She didn't want to tell anyone about the baby, that was the truth. She didn't want to talk about it because it was too painful. But, as unplanned as the situation was, she was really looking forward to being a mom. She and Lucas would have had the most beautiful baby. She would have been happy with either a boy or a girl, but she mostly imagined them having a little boy. She imagined him with Lucas' blonde hair and tan face but her brown eyes. She realized the way she pictured about their imaginary son was pretty much how Lucas would look with brown contacts. She imagined the little boy and Lucas playing baseball, the little boy trying to hold up a bat too big for him and Lucas pitching the ball slowly and directly at the bat so their son couldn't miss. When the little boy would hit it, both Lucas and Riley would cheer as if he had just won the World Series and hug him and kiss his chubby face all over. It was a life she was positive she was going to have with the two of them. A life she never thought she would lose, but now it was gone. Maybe she needed to leave that life in New York and start anew in Washington, D.C..

* * *

So she applied for the internship in Washington, D.C. as well as a few in New York, one in Denver, one in Atlanta and one in Phoenix, hoping for the one in Washington. It really did sound like a great opportunity. The law firm she would intern for represented several members of the FBI and the CIA. It really was a great internship but it would be the last one she would hear from.

Riley still stayed in bed almost all day but was now leaving the apartment to go to class and check the mail. Lucas was pleasantly surprised the first day she had brought it in. He saw this as a sign of growth. He thought she was getting better and in a way she was, just not the way he thought.

She heard back from one of the firms in New York first. They offered her a position. Then Atlanta, another New York and Denver, all accepting her. She wasn't rejected until Phoenix came along but she didn't really want that one anyway. It made her worry that she may not get the internship in Washington. She was accepted into another New York firm before she got the letter from Washington. She carefully peeled the letter open when she was home alone and read the contents.

She was in.

Before she had time to second guess herself, she had emailed Professor Hawk about being accepted into the Washington internship and that she had chosen that one. Professor Hawk emailed her back about ten minutes later saying that she was processing the information now. Riley hadn't felt so sure about something in a long time but even if she wanted to change her mind, it was too late now. She was going to Washington.

* * *

Lucas came home about ten minutes after Riley's confirmation email had been sent to Professor Hawk. She was still sitting at the dinning room table staring at her laptop screen. Lucas was elated once again. She was doing better.

"Hey." Lucas said, trying his best to sound cheerful. "It's good to see you up."

"Yeah." Riley replied in a tone that was still lifeless. Lucas did his best to remind himself that this was progress and it wasn't going to happen all at once.

"How was your day?" He asked.

"It was fine." Riley said. "I got accepted into an internship today."

"Oh, you still have to do those?" Lucas asked.

"Yes." Riley answered. "All spring. I told you about it a few months ago, how I had requested to stay in New York."

"Oh, yeah." Lucas responded. "Yeah, I remember that. I think it's good you are staying in New York."

"I'm not staying in New York." Riley said.

"You're not?" Lucas asked. "But I thought you requested to stay here?"

"I did." Riley replied. "But that was before…"

She still had issues talking about it. He did too. It was a situation that they both knew about and they would silently agree not to talk about it.

"Okay, but I still think it would be better if you stayed here." Lucas said.

"I already emailed my advisor." Riley said. "It's done."

"How…" Lucas was flabbergasted. How could she possibly think this was a good idea? She was getting better but she was still in pain and he wanted to be here with her until it went away. He was still in pain. He needed her to be here with him until it went away. "Where are you going?" He finally decided on.

"Washington, D.C." Riley responded.

Lucas nearly spit out all of his drink he had just prepared himself. Washington, D.C.? That was the furthest Riley would have ever been from New York. She said a while ago she didn't want to be that far from Maya or her parents. Did she really think Washington, D.C. was the best place she could go?

"Riley," Lucas said as he moved from around the counter to stand in front of her. "Are you sure you've thought this through? That's pretty far away from Maya and your parents."

"I realize that, Lucas." Riley said. "I just think after… I think I need a new start."

"That's pretty far away from me." Lucas said, softly.

Riley didn't say anything but he could tell from the expression in her face that she shockingly wasn't sorry.

Lucas went back behind the counter so he could keep this flareup he felt coming away from her. She was hurting him but he would never hurt her.

"Riley, you just don't get it do you?" Lucas said. "I'm hurting too! I wanted the baby too! It took me a while but I wanted to be a father. I imagined having lots of kids with you. I still want to. Maybe not right now but some time in the future I do. I'm hurting. I know you are too so let me help you and you can help me."

Riley was silent for a while but she was hellbent on her decision to go to Washington. Nothing Lucas could say could change that.

"Maybe you need a new start too." Riley said.

"No, I just need you." Lucas said. "Please, Riley. Please, stay."

Lucas had grabbed her arms and their foreheads were now touching. It was almost enough for Riley to reconsider. Almost.

"I can't." Riley said as she backed away. "You and I just have different ways of healing. For the first time, I need to do what it best for me because I know if I stay here I will go insane!"

She was breathing heavily, standing at the opposite side of the table when she softly mumbled, "I just want to be happy again."

Lucas knew this wasn't over. He loved Riley more than he had ever loved anything. She brushed past his family issues and looked had him like nobody else ever had before. Despite her attitude the past month, she was the most bright and optimistic person he knew. She was beautiful inside and out. He was positive if he drew up his dream girl, she wouldn't even come close to Riley. She wasn't just his dream girl she was better than his dream girl. He wouldn't have had that diamond ring that used to belong to his grandmother in his nightstand drawer, a graduation present for her, if he didn't think so. He wasn't going to let this be the end of them.

"I want you to be happy." Lucas finally answered.

"Then, please, let me go." Riley said. "Let me do this."

Lucas closed his eyes, took a big, heavy sigh and then said;

"Okay."

Riley gave him a stoic stare for about ten seconds before walking back to their room and curling back up in their bed.

* * *

Lucas slept on the couch until Riley left. He offered to take her to the airport but she said she could go by herself. It was an early morning flight after all. He needed to sleep after his long and stressful finals.

When he woke up that morning he knew she was gone. He walked back to their bedroom and saw she had somehow managed to fit all of her belongings in her suitcase. It was as if she hadn't ever lived there. Lucas sighed and walked into the kitchen to make himself some breakfast and start his day. If Riley had taught him anything over the years, it was to be as positive as you can. Lucas was planning on going into the city to hang out with Maya today. Maybe he would tell her Riley had gone to Washington or maybe he would tell her she didn't feel well today. He hadn't decided yet but he was going to get out of this apartment. He was going to rent a smaller one closer to campus next semester and just like Riley, he was going to start over. He knew it wasn't going to be the best way for him to grieve over the loss of his child but he was going to be doing something.

Just as he was about to start making some coffee, he saw a picture on top of the machine. It was a picture of their first date that her mother had taken right before they left. Riley was wearing a grey sweater, a black leather jacket he was pretty sure was Maya's, red skinny jeans, tan suede ankle boots and a chunky pearl necklace. He remembered ringing the doorbell and the door opening to the most beautiful woman in the world. It was the first time he remembered thinking she was the most beautiful woman ever. He thought it was corny when men in romance movies would say something like that to their woman. Obviously there was somebody more beautiful in the world and there had to have been something about them they didn't like. But Lucas still thought Riley was the most beautiful woman in the world and he loved everything about her.

When the toaster gave out a ding, letting Lucas know his toast was ready, he dropped the picture in shock and it toppled to the floor, landing face down. It wasn't until then he noticed a message on the back of this picture.

 _This was the first time I realized I really loved you. I don't think I'll ever stop._

 _-R_

And that's when Lucas knew, this wasn't over yet.

* * *

 **AN: And that's the end! Hope you guys enjoyed!**

 **No, not really. I wouldn't do that to you guys. This really is the end of Smile but I'm going to start writing a sequel to this one soon. The premise will be set a few years after Smile leaves off and Riley is happy in Washington and hasn't been in contact with any of the GMW gang, including her parents until Maya finds her and asks her to be her maid of honor at hers and Josh's wedding. And of course Josh's best man is none other than Lucas Friar. I don't know what I'm going to title it yet but I'll let you guys know ASAP. I usually figure it out somewhere in the first or second chapter.**

 **Anyway, this has been great! Thank you guys so much for the follows, favorites and reviews! We are so close to 100 followers and 100 reviews, it would be super awesome if we could get there by the end of this chapter since this story is now complete. I hope you guys will stick around for the sequel to this story and the third installment of the Attractive series!**

 **Thanks you guys from the bottom of my heart and I hope you have a great holiday season!**

 **Follow, favorite and review!**


	18. Author's Note

**AN: So I've decided on a title for Book 3. It is going to be titled Professional: Book 3 in Attractive Series. If you enjoyed this story, I would love for you guys to check it out if you have the chance.**

 **And it is available... right now! Check it out in the Girl Meets World page or in my bio!**

 **Thanks guys!**

 **Be sure to follow it, favorite it, and review it. But I don't have to tell you that, do I? :)**


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